Throughout this year, Godolphin has been in rather good standing among the 3-year-old filly division with its homebred duo of Pretty Mischievous and Wet Paint .
The two fillies have combined for four grade 1 wins and earnings of $2.8 million with three-time grade 1 and Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Pretty Mischievous arguably the leader in the race for the Eclipse Award as the champion 3-year-old filly.
Yet now with fall at hand, there’s a new measuring stick for them and the rest of the fillies born in 2020.
How do they compare with the best older fillies and mares?
“It’s always interesting at this time of year to see how the 3-year-olds fit with the older horses and let them duke it out a bit,” said Michael Banahan, bloodstock director for Godolphin USA. “The older fillies look like a very good bunch and we’ll see how the 3-year-olds stack up with them.”
Of the two Godolphin fillies, Wet Paint is the most likely to tangle with the likes of older foes such as Nest , Clairiere , Idiomatic , and Adare Manor at the World Championships. Unraced by trainer Brad Cox since winning the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and then finishing second in the Aug. 19 Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, the current plan is to train the daughter of Blame up to the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
“Wet Paint ran well in the Coaching Club Oaks and Alabama and we decided to pass on the Spinster (G1, Oct. 8 at Keeneland) and train her up to the Breeders’ Cup. She had two tough races at Saratoga without much of a break this year so we thought we’d give her one to get her ready for the Breeders’ Cup. I think she fits. We’ll watch her the next few weeks and then firm up plans,” Banahan said about the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Oaks.
Banahan said Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous came out of a runner-up finish in the Sept. 23 Cotillion Stakes (G1) a tired filly and trainer Brendan Walsh will monitor her in Kentucky before deciding on whether or not the Distaff is an option.
Running on a sloppy, sealed track at Parx Racing in the Cotillion, the daughter of Into Mischief rallied from sixth but fell a half-length shy of catching front-running Ceiling Crusher .
“She came out of the race fine but she’s a little tired. She’s at Churchill Downs now. We’ll regroup and see how she does. It seemed like she didn’t get a lot of traction (in the Cotillion) but she ran hard and tried hard. It’s difficult to pick off a horse loose on the lead in conditions like that. We were proud of the effort that she got as close as she did,” Banahan said. “We’ll see how she does in the next few weeks and come up with a game plan. She’s had a very good year. She’s run 10 races in a 12-month period and has never let us down. If she’s telling us she wants to run again this year we’ll have a look at the Breeders’ Cup.”
In six 2023 starts, Pretty Mischievous has amassed four wins, including the three grade 1 victories, and two seconds with earnings of $1,703,250. In her 10-race career, she has never been off the board with seven wins, two seconds, and a third with earnings of nearly $2 million.
Leave feedback about this