Pretty Mischievous Pointed Toward June 9 Acorn

Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Pretty Mischievous  is scheduled to return in the $500,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park June 9, trainer Brendan Walsh said.

The Acorn, lengthened in distance this year from a mile to 1 1/16 miles, comes five weeks after her first top-level stakes victory in the May 5 Oaks at Churchill Downs, in which she defeated late-running Gambling Girl  by a neck over 1 1/8 miles.

Godolphin's homebred 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief   has breezed two times since the Oaks at the Louisville, Ky., track, the most recent of which was a five-furlong workout in 1:01 2/5 May 25. She is 5-1-1 in seven starts with earnings of more than $1.2 million. She made $705,250 in capturing the Kentucky Oaks, her first race with blinkers, from post 14 under jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

"She's been doing good since the Oaks. This seems like a good spot," Walsh said of the Acorn.

Reflecting on its longer distance this year, he added, "I like it. It suits me fine, anyway."

In most of the recent renewals, the Acorn has drawn a mix of routers and stretch-out sprinters. Godolphin's Matareya , trained by Brad Cox, won over three rivals in 2022 after the post-parade scratch of Echo Zulu .

Serengeti Empress  in 2019 was the last Oaks winner to race in the Acorn, finishing second to a stretching-out Guarana . Monomoy Girl  was the most recent Oaks-Acorn repeater in 2018.