Pretty Mischievous stuns Hoosier Philly in Rachel Alexandra

Pretty Mischievous was able to turn the tables on heavy favorite Hoosier Philly and earn 50 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Bred and owned by Godolphin, Pretty Mischievous was ridden by jockey Tyler Gaffalione and trained by Brendan Walsh. She completed 1 1/16 miles at 1:45.15.

Click here for Fair Grounds entries and results.

It was an eventful start to the Rachel Alexandra when 2-5 favorite Hoosier Philly stumbled leaving the starting gate.

“I think the stumble at the start cost a lot,” jockey Edgar Morales said.

Pace-setting Miracle was able to set very moderate early fractions of 25.02 and 48.85 seconds. Hoosier Philly, whose connections entertained the possibility of a Kentucky Derby bid when they nominated her for the Triple Crown, was relegated to last

“I had nowhere to go when they were going so slow,” Morales said. “Every horse is going to finish going 25. It’s part of the game. It is what it is. It was her first race back, and she was faced with a lot of adversity. She’s always in the bridle, but I had to take a hold of her, because everyone was going so slow. 

Pretty Mischievous tracked in third in the early stages. Around the far turn Gaffalione tipped her to the three path and battled every step of the homestretch to narrowly defeat Miracle

“Before she ran Brendan told me we had a really special one in the barn,” Gaffalione said. “She keeps improving physically and mentally.”

Runner-up Miracle earned 20 points toward the Oaks followed by Hoosier Philly with 15, Vahva 10 and Chop Chop 5. Knockyoursocksoff rounded out the Rachel Alexandra field.

Pretty Mischievous rewarded her backers with payouts of $18.20, $6.60 and $3.40. Miracle returned $10 and $5.80. Hoosier Philly paid $2.10.

Pretty Mischievous is a daughter of Into Mischief out of the Tapit mare Pretty City Dancer. She sports a record of 5: 4-0-1 with her only defeat coming to Hoosier Philly in the Golden Rod (G2) in late November at Churchill Downs. She increased her career bankroll to $421,310.

“She never missed a beat from her first start at 2 until now,” Walsh said. “We knew we’d have to give her a rest at some point, because we didn’t want to go to the well too often. We were quietly confident she’d be good enough, and today we found out she is.

Nine of the last 26 winners of the Kentucky Oaks participated in the Rachel Alexandra. The final race in the 3-year-old fillies series at Fair Grounds is the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) on March 25.

“We’ll see how she comes out of things,” Walsh said, “talk things over with the ownership team and get her to be 110 percent on the big day in May.”