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‘Rising Star’ Pretty Mischievous Springs The Upset In Rachel Alexandra

The betting public was pretty sure that an Into Mischief filly out of a Tapit mare would emerge victorious in Saturday's GII Rachel Alexandra S. Presented by Fasig-Tipton, but they only got it half right. It wasn't 2-5 Hoosier Philly who picked up the 50 GI Kentucky Oaks points, but instead Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous who starred at Fair Grounds. Pacesetting longshot Miracle (by Into Mischief's younger brother Mendelssohn) stretched Pretty Mischievous to 3/4 of a length, and was another 7 3/4 lengths clear of Hoosier Philly.

A good-looking off-the-pace winner first up at Churchill Downs sprinting Sept. 18, the Brendan Walsh-trained Pretty Mischievous added an allowance in the slop there at the end of October. The daughter of GISW Pretty City Dancer was five lengths behind Hoosier Philly in third when stretching out for the GII Golden Rod S. Nov. 26, but bounced right back to take the local Untapable S. on the day after Christmas. She was flattered when runner-up The Alys Look (Connect) bested stablemate Chop Chop (City of Light) in last month's Silverbulletday S., and the 80 Beyer Speed Figure she earned that day was only one point behind what Hoosier Philly earned in the Golden Rod. Chop Chop owned the field's best Beyer of 88, and was the clear second choice in the wagering–Pretty Mischievous was third in the betting at 8-1.

Hoosier Philly bobbled at the break, but Pretty Mischievous was off cleanly and drafted in between foes just behind Miracle. She got down to the rail under Tyler Gaffalione behind a :48.85 half, and was asked in earnest following six furlongs in 1:13.05. Miracle boxed on, and Hoosier Philly started to come alive out wide, but Pretty Mischievous wanted it most, and wore down the pacesetter despite that one leaning on her a bit in the lane.

“Before she ran Brendan told me we had a really special one in the barn,” Gaffalione said. “She keeps improving physically and mentally. Today, I sat in a perfect spot and let Johnny [Velazquez] go on Miracle while Luis [Saez and Untapable third Vahva {Gun Runner}] tracked inside.”

Walsh, who was celebrating his first Rachel Alexandra win, said, “She never missed a beat from her first start at two until now. 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. Now, we'll see how she comes out of things, talk things over with the ownership team and get her to be 110% on the big day in May.”

With the 50 points she picked up Saturday, Pretty Mischievous now sits atop the GI Kentucky Oaks standings with 63 points.

Saturday, Fair Grounds
RACHEL ALEXANDRA S. PRESENTED BY FASIG-TIPTON-GII,
$291,000, Fair Grounds, 2-18, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:45.15, ft.
1–PRETTY MISCHIEVOUS, 122, f, 3, by Into Mischief
          1st Dam: Pretty City Dancer (GISW, $286,344), by Tapit
          2nd Dam: Pretty City, by Carson City
          3rd Dam: Pretty Special, by Riverman
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Godolphin
(KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $180,000.
Lifetime Record: SP, 5-4-0-1, $421,310. Werk Nick Rating:
A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Miracle, 122, f, 3, Mendelssohn–Good Omen, by Smart
Strike. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($110,000 Wlg '20 FTKNOV;
$250,000 Ylg '21 SARAUG; $360,000 2yo '22 OBSMAR).
O-WinStar Farm LLC and Siena Farm LLC; B-Magnolia Mares,
LLC & Pony Express Sales,Inc. (NY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$60,000.
3–Hoosier Philly, 122, f, 3, Into Mischief–Tapella, by Tapit.
($510,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Gold Standard Racing Stable, LLC;
B-Candy Meadows LLC (KY); T-Thomas M. Amoss. $30,000.
Margins: 3/4, 7 3/4, 2. Odds: 8.10, 13.50, 0.40.
Also Ran: Vahva, Chop Chop, Knockyoursocksoff.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO,
sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Perennial leading sire Into Mischief already has five graded stakes winners this year, and is responsible for three of the top four on the Oaks leaderboard with 2022 champion juvenile filly Wonder Wheel third and Hoosier Philly fourth. The Spendthrift super sire now has 63 graded winners but is still in search of a first Kentucky Oaks winner.

Recent GIII Holy Bull S. winner Rocket Can and Hoosier Philly are the other two graded winners by Into Mischief out of Tapit mares, but that number almost certainly has to rise rapidly in the coming years considering they've got seven champion sire titles between them. Tapit, still on the young side as broodmare sire, is responsible for the dams of 39 graded/group winners worldwide thus far.

Pretty Mischievous's dam Pretty City Dancer dead-heated with another Tapit filly in the 2016 GI Spinaway S. for trainer Mark Casse and John Oxley. The $825,000 KEESEP yearling was off the board in subsequent route tries on the Oaks trail, but still fetched $3.5 million while in foal to Medaglia d'Oro at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale. The resulting filly broke through in a two-turn Indiana maiden special weight in October. Pretty Mischievous came next, but the half-sister to GISW Lear's Princess (Lear Fan) was barren to Uncle Mo for 2021. She produced another Medaglia d'Oro filly last March, and was bred back to Street Sense.

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Sophomore ‘Stars’ Line Up at Fair Grounds Saturday

The road to the Triple Crown heats up in New Orleans Saturday with the GII Risen Star S. and GII Rachel Alexandra S.

A full field of 14 will line up in the former, led by unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Victory Formation (Tapwrit). One of three entered for Brad Cox, the 3-1 morning-line favorite heads to the post off a front-running tally over stablemate Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) in the Smarty Jones S. going a mile at Oaklawn Jan. 1.

Drawn on the outside in post 13, Victory Formation figures to have plenty of company on the front end if similar tactics are employed in this first attempt at 1 1/8 miles.

“I think he should be able to break well and get a good position,” Cox said. “I'm not too worried about the outside post. He's very quick from the gate and broke really sharp in all three of his starts. Obviously, Flavien [Prat] is a great rider; we're not going to give him too many instructions, and he rode him last time so he does know the horse.”

Cox will also saddle second-choice Tapit's Conquest (Tapit), who looks primed for a breakthrough performance following a strong second with a less-than-ideal trip behind the re-opposing Determinedly (Cairo Prince) in his sophomore debut at Fair Grounds Jan. 21.

“I think he got a lot out of it and he hadn't run since October,” Cox said. “He needed the last race, he's still learning. He didn't really get involved as much as we'd like last time, but ultimately came running, and I think he got a lot out of it from an educational standpoint. He should love a mile and an eighth even more.”

Only two Risen Star entrants–Curly Jack (Good Magic) and Two Phil's (Hard Spun)–have posted wins versus graded stakes company so far.

Curly Jack, winner of the GIII Iroquois S. Sept. 17 and a well-beaten fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, capped his 2-year-old campaign with a very good second behind subsequent GIII Lecomte S. winner Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro) in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 26. Last term's GIII Street Sense S. winner Two Phil's, meanwhile, completed the exacta in the Lecomte last time.

The six-deep Rachel Alexandra is headlined by the highly regarded Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), who puts a perfect three-for-three record on the line. She concluded her juvenile campaign with a dominating win in Churchill's GII Golden Rod S. Nov. 26.

“We have a lot of expectations for her based on what she's done so far, so there's a lot of anticipation about how she's going to come back at three,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “Her morning preparation has been just as it was when she was two, so that gives us some feeling of confidence going into the race. But still, it is just her first race at three.”

Hoosier Philly closed at 11-1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 4, the third choice in wagering.

“That's just noise,” Amoss said. “We're not looking at anything other than this race right now.”

The 13-race card at Fair Grounds also includes the GIII Mineshaft S. and GIII Fair Grounds S.

There are four other graded stakes around the country Saturday–the GIII Royal Delta S. at Gulfstream; the GIII Barbara Fritchie S. and GIII General George S. at Laurel; and the GIII Razorback H. at Oaklawn.

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FanDuel TV to Cover Risen Star, Rachel Alexandra Stakes

The road to the Kentucky Derby runs through Louisiana Saturday, Feb. 18 and FanDuel TV will be live on-site at Fair Grounds with exclusive coverage of the $400,000 GII Risen Star S. as undefeated Victory Formation (Tapwrit) takes on a field of 12 rivals. There are 50-20-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the line for the top five finishers.

In addition to the Kentucky Derby prep race, a Kentucky Oaks prep race on Saturday–the $300,000 GII Rachel Alexandra S.–will feature the 3-year-old seasonal bow of GSW Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief).

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Tom Amoss Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Trainer Tom Amoss has never been shy about sharing his feelings about his filly Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), saying she's the best horse he has ever trained. With Hoosier Philly ready to make her 3-year-old debut in Saturday's GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds, the TDN team called upon Amoss to join them for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to get his latest thoughts on a filly who could be a superstar. Amoss was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week.

It didn't take him long to figure out that Hoosier Philly was going places.

“When she was getting ready to run at the beginning of September, we worked her quite a bit with other horses,” he said. “What she was doing in the mornings in her workouts and her strong moves against competition was unlike anything that we had seen in our barn. I'm not going to tell that I've had all these champions, but we've had a lot of good horses. We've had enough of them through the years since 1987 when I started that I knew this one was just different. Hoosier Philly was different than anything I've had before.”

When last seen, Hoosier Philly was romping to a five-length win in the GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs on Nov. 26. She returned to the worktab on Jan. 28 at the Fair Grounds, posting the first of three straight bullet works. Amoss knows the expectations will be huge come Saturday, but he feels that Hoosier Philly will be ready.

“The expectations have now become so high with her,” he said. “It's almost as if anything less than a win is going to be a huge disappointment, not only to the barn and the ownership but to the general racing public. Hoosier Philly has gone through her preps just as she should. If there's any hesitancy in my voice at all, it's only because she hasn't run since the end of November and this is her first start off the bench. I just want her to show me that she's the same horse she was at two, if not a more mature, better version of that. In the mornings, that's what she's telling us. So, hopefully, we'll see that on Saturday.”

Hoosier Philly has been nominated to the Triple Crown and Amoss has said he will consider a start in the GI Kentucky Derby. (Hoosier Philly closed at 11-1 in the latest round of Derby Future Wager betting). For now, though, Amoss said he's not looking past the Rachel Alexandra.

“She's going to run in this race on Saturday, the Rachel Alexandra,” Amoss said. “What she does after that race is so dependent on how she performs and how she comes out of the race. We'll have a long discussion with the owners so far as what we're going to point to next. But that would be the case with any horse. Getting ahead of yourself and beginning to do this or that is silly. When you think about those odds, the 11-1 in the Future Wager, if we were to go to the Derby I think she might be 11-1 at post time. So why would you want to bet on something like that now? All the talk about the Derby is just a lot of noise. I'm looking forward to Saturday and in her coming back as a healthy horse after the race and, hopefully, a successful one.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley took a look back at the stunning upset by Dreaming of Snow (Jess's Dream) in the Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs and the wins by Litigate (Blame) and Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) in their Derby preps. Looking ahead, the team previewed the Rachel Alexandra S. and the GII Risen Star S. Moss, Cadman and Finley also shared their memories of three notable figures who passed away during the week, Burt Bacharach, Diana Firestone and John Veitch.

Click here to listen to the audio version.

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