Pretty Mischievous the One to Beat in Acorn

In a 3-year-old filly division with no clear leader, Pretty Mischievous  could cement her place at the top with a second grade 1 win June 9 in the $500,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park.

The Godolphin homebred, fresh off her first top-tier victory in the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1), will face only one of her Churchill Downs rivals in the 1 1/16-mile Acorn, Dorth Vader , while the remaining six fillies present new challenges.

Trainer Brendan Walsh, who also recorded his first Oaks score that day, feels the cutback in trip from 1 1/8 miles to the one-turn, 1 1/16 miles should work out favorably for Pretty Mischievous.

"She has plenty of natural speed, which is required in this type of race," Walsh said.

Although Pretty Mischievous has speed, her tactical ability to rate just behind the leaders should aid her in the Acorn. On paper, the race appears poised for a contentious early pace among Munnys Gold , a talented sprinter from the Todd Pletcher barn stretching out for the first time, Laurel shipper Goodgirlbadhabits, and impressive debut victress Randomized .

Pretty Mischievous, ridden back by Tyler Gaffalione, had her final Acorn tune-up last Saturday, getting her first taste of the massive "Big Sandy" oval. Working in company with stakes-placed stablemate Gilmore , Pretty Mischievous clocked the half-mile in :47.87, the third of 77 breezes for that distance on the day.

She was outfitted for the first time with blinkers in the Oaks, and Walsh confirmed she would wear the equipment again for the Acorn.

"I think they helped her to focus a little bit better maybe at the end of the race," Walsh said. "I had a pretty good idea that they weren't going to have a negative effect, so that was the main thing."

Munnys Gold is certainly one of the most intriguing characters in Friday's race. The lightly raced, highly touted filly has never raced beyond seven furlongs, and while she dazzled sprinting, the mile distance remains her biggest question mark coming into the Acorn.

Owned by Robert and Lawana Low, Munnys Gold enters the Acorn off a heartbreaking defeat to Red Carpet Ready  in the Eight Belles Stakes (G2) on Oaks Day. The daughter of Munnings had notched one scintillating victory after the next in three flawless starts ahead of May 5. After she looked all but a winner at the top of the lane, the two fillies dueled to the wire, with Munnys Gold drawing the short end of the stick in a photo finish.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will need to harness her speed or shake loose from his rivals early in order to avoid too much pressure on the front end.

The other runner from the Kentucky Oaks, breaking from the rail, is the durable Florida-bred Dorth Vader. A facile winner of the Davona Dale Stakes (G2) over the mile trip three starts back at Gulfstream Park, the Girvin   filly was fifth in the Run for the Lilies, 3 1/4 lengths behind Pretty Mischievous.  

A homebred for John Ropes, Dorth Vader was recently transferred to the barn of George Weaver after making her first nine starts—including three stakes wins—with trainer Michael Yates.

"We recently got her, but she's a nice filly and is talented. Yates did a great job with her and we're just trying to carry on what he's done," Weaver said. "I think getting back to the one-turn configuration will be more in her wheelhouse, but she ran big in the Oaks, too."