Pretty Mischievous Scores First Oaks for Godolphin

In a thrilling stretch run May 5 at Churchill Downs, it was Pretty Mischievous  who held back Gambling Girl  by a neck to hand trainer Brendan Walsh, owner/breeder Godolphin, and jockey Tyler Gaffalione their first win in the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1).

A years-long relationship between one of the world's top owners and trainer Walsh reached a new pinnacle with the win. Irish native Walsh, who has partnered with Godolphin runners to win the Arlington Million Stakes (G1T) with Santin  and Breeders' Futurity and Clark Stakes (both G1) with Maxfield  , as well as some top races in Dubai for several owners, said Saturday's win felt like the greatest to date in the moments after the finish.

"This is the kind of thing you grow up and you dream about stuff like this—to win a grade 1, especially an Oaks at Churchill Downs," Walsh said. "It's a long way from Cork in Ireland. It's just indescribable. It's just exactly what you what you dream about.

"But it's also what we're here for. These guys breed these good horses and everybody works so hard. It is really supposed to happen when you've got horses as good as these."

A bit overlooked as fellow Godolphin homebred Wet Paint  was sent off as the 8-5 favorite, Pretty Mischievous raced wide after starting from the field of 14's outside post, but was able to maintain her cruising speed under Gaffalione.

After the daughter of Into Mischief   drew outside, Gaffalione said he talked it over with Walsh and they thought as a long-striding filly, the outside post could be a good fit. It proved to be just that as Pretty Mischievous stalked from a close fifth early before launching her rally just before Sunland Park Oaks winner Flying Connection  had led through six furlongs in 1:11.28.

In-hand, Pretty Mischievous picked off horses and moved to the lead, opening a three-length advantage in midstretch. Grade 2-placed Gambling Girl , who had raced 11th early, sustained her late run to the finish under multiple Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. as the crowd of 106,381 roared. But the courageous rally came up a neck short at the wire as Gambling Girl's trainer, Todd Pletcher, reacted to the near-miss with a big, dejected downward arm swing.

Pretty Mischievous, who won the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) in February at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots before finishing second in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) in March, completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.77 to nail down her first grade 1 win. The top two were followed home 2 1/2 lengths back by a pair of Brad Cox-trained runners—longshot The Alys Look  finished a neck ahead of Wet Paint. 

Gaffalione said he concentrated his efforts in the stretch on keeping Pretty Mischievous focused.

"She has a tendency to kind of wait on horses but today she actually went on off the turn and gave me a good finish," Gaffalione said. "I knew somebody was going to be coming but I thought we had enough to hold them off."

Walsh honed his horsemanship at the Irish National Stud and Sheikh Mohammed's Kildangan Stud, which led to working as an exercise rider and stable foreman for Godolphin's racing division in Dubai and at Arlington International Racecourse. He obtained a racing license in the United States in 2011 and in recent years has been among the trainers conditioning runners for Godolphin.

"I've had a very close relationship with (Godolphin) my whole working life. I did nine winters for them in Dubai. When you're there and doing that, it was like working with an all-star team," Walsh said. "Now to actually have the opportunity to train those all-stars is the stuff that dreams are made of. 

"If you want to be a footballer or a coach, you want to be around the very best. It's like that. It's just a great opportunity for me to work with horses of this caliber."

Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA, said Walsh and his team work hard to give Godolphin runners their best shot on the track.

"It's very special," Banahan said. "All of our trainers do a great job and I think this is very special for Brendan and his team who put in a lot of long hours and work very hard. We're very excited to give Brendan and his team the opportunity to train these horses. They absolutely do a first-class job."

Watch: Banahan on Kentucky Oaks Victory From Pretty Mischievous

Those years of preparation would pay off in the time it would take Pretty Mischievous to take her wide run to glory. If Walsh had any concerns about the post, a conversation with Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas early on Oaks day helped raise his spirits. 

"I met Wayne Lukas in the chute this morning and he said to me, 'You've drawn wide, aren't ya?' He said, 'I've won four Derbys and in three of them we drew 15 and up.' He said just let her break out of there and get her feet into the race," Walsh said. "Tyler pretty much told me that's what he was going to do."

Gaffalione was searching for the right words after the big win.

"It's a dream come true for me," Gaffalione said. "I grew up in this business and idolized these guys I'm out riding with and competing with. It's hard to put into words but I just feel so blessed to be given these opportunities."

Ahead of the race Walsh made a key decision, adding blinkers in the hope of helping the filly continue her focus—and her run—to the wire. He said in talking things over with Banahan, they felt like Pretty Mischievous may have lost some focus in the Fair Grounds Oaks, where she led in the stretch but couldn't hold off the late charge of Southlawn . 

Southlawn, trained by Norm Casse, would finish 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. Casse's father, Mark Casse, also sent out a filly in the Oaks but didn't see the bounce back he was hoping for from champion 2-year-old filly Wonder Wheel , who finished ninth.

Mike Repole, owner of runner-up Gambling Girl, lamented coming close but settling for second in the Oaks a second straight year as he is the co-owner of Nest , who finished second to Secret Oath  last year.

"She kept coming, coming, and coming but she didn't get there quite fast enough," Repole said of the New York-bred daughter of Dialed In  . "She ran big but it's a tough second."

Cox was proud of his fillies.

"The Alys Look made a good account of herself," Cox said. "(Wet Paint's jockey Flavien Prat) made the comment that she struggled with the track; it wasn't to her liking. She laid a touch closer than normal given the pace, but when he asked her to pick up from the three-eighths to the quarter pole, she kind of leveled off a bit."

Cox also had sent out Botanical , who finished 13th.

"It's all good," Cox said. "We'll regroup."

Pretty Mischievous is out of the Tapit   mare Pretty City Dancer , winner of the 2016 Spinaway Stakes (G1) for 2-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course. Banahan noted that Godolphin had a pairing with Into Mischief in mind in going to $3.5 million to purchase her at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November Sale, where she was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency. Stroud Coleman Bloodstock signed the ticket.

Pretty Mischievous paid $22.74 on a $2 win ticket and improved her record to 5-1-1 from seven starts while increasing her earnings to $1,206,560.

Video: Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1)