'They don't come around too often' - 2023 Kentucky Oaks heroine Pretty Mischievous retired from racing

Pretty Mischievous, the champion three-year-old filly of 2023 during a Kentucky Oaks-winning season, was retired on Thursday by owner-breeder Godolphin. 

Godolphin posted on X that she had arrived at her new home at Gainsborough Farm and that her next stop was motherhood. She will be bred in early 2025.

Her retirement comes after three losses this year in as many starts. She ran third in the May 3 Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs to kick off her year, showed again in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Saratoga, and most recently was an uninspired fifth in the Grade 1 Clement L Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar. The latter race was below her championship form from last year and marked the only time she finished out of the money during her 13-race career.

"We felt she maybe wasn't going to be able to replicate what she did last year for us," said Godolphin USA director of bloodstock Michael Banahan. "So we decided we didn't want to be disappointed with her performance, especially after she had been a super mare for us."

A top performer at two, when she won three of four starts, including the 2022 Untapable Stakes at Fair Grounds, Pretty Mischievous experienced an even better season at three. She won the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds and later was second there in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks.

A key equipment change by trainer Brendan Walsh to add blinkers brought out the best in her the rest of the year, and kept her focused throughout in the Kentucky Oaks, the country's most prestigious race for three-year-old fillies. Racing wide under Tyler Gaffalione, Pretty Mischievous grabbed the lead coming into the lane and lasted for a neck victory to become the first Kentucky Oaks winner for both Godolphin and Walsh.

"She was a special mare for all of us at the farm and Brendan's crew," said Banahan.

Later in the year, she added the Acorn Stakes and Test Stakes, both Grade 1.

Walsh said: "We're all in the game for horses like that. They don't come around too often. She was a pleasure to have since day one. "

Pretty Mischievous after victory in the 2023 Kentucky OaksCredit: wendy wooley

She followed the Test with a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes that wrapped up her three-year-old campaign. She was entered to run in the Breeders' Cup Distaff late in the year but was scratched.

The four-year-old daughter of Into Mischief out of the Grade 1-winning Tapit mare Pretty City Dancer retires with a 7-2-3 record in 13 starts and earnings of more than $2.1 million.

Banahan said no stallion had yet been chosen so far in advance of her first mating. 

"Any horse who can win three Grade 1s for you has a special place in the storybook for all of our horses," he said. "We're absolutely very grateful for her, and hopefully she can replicate some of her talent in foals down the road."

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