Hoosier Philly headlines Golden Rod

Gold Standard Racing’s undefeated Hoosier Philly headlines a field of 10 2-year-old fillies that were entered in Saturday’s $400,000 Golden Rod (Grade II) at Churchill Downs.

The 1 1/16-mile Golden Rod is the next stop on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. The Top 5 finishers of the race will receive points based on a 10-4-3-2-1 scale in their attempt to qualify for the first Friday in May.

The Golden Rod will go as Race 10 of 12 on the special “Stars of Tomorrow II” program that features all 2-year-old races. First post is 1 p.m. (all times Eastern). The other featured events on the card include the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (GII), $200,000 Ed Brown and $200,000 Fern Creek.

Trained by Tom Amoss, Hoosier Philly dominated her six rivals in the $200,000 Rags to Riches by 7 1/2 lengths under jockey Edgar Morales. The gray daughter of Into Mischief began to garner the attention of many onlookers during her morning training prior to her debut where she was bet down to even-money favoritism and scored by 1 3/4 lengths in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight contest. On Nov. 10, Hoosier Philly had her most serious preparation toward the Golden Rod when she clipped five furlongs in :58.20 at Churchill Downs. Hoosier Philly and Morales will break from post No. 4.

One of Hoosier Philly’s rivals that entered the Golden Rod was Godolphin’s Pretty Mischievous. The undefeated daughter of Into Mischief is a perfect 2-for-2 and, like Hoosier Philly, both of her victories come at Churchill Downs. Pretty Mischievous broke her maiden Sept. 18 by 2 1/4 lengths and returned Oct. 30 where she splashed to a 1 3/4-length allowance win over the “sloppy” racetrack. Pretty Mischievous has been well backed in both of her starts. She was the 2-1 favorite in her debut against 11 rivals and was heavily bet to 1-5 against five fillies in her allowance win. Churchill Downs’ leading rider Tyler Gaffalione will retain the mount from the rail.

Here is the complete field for the Golden Rod from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): Pretty Mischievous (Gaffalione, Walsh); Mustang Lady (Rafael Bejarano, Troy Newton); American Rockette (Florent Geroux, Bill Mott); Hoosier Philly (Morales, Amoss); Black Forest (Gerardo Corrales, Fausto Gutierrez); Knockyoursocksoff (Julien Leparoux, Chris Block); T Max (Jack Gilligan, Will Walden); Pure Pauline (Ricardo Santana Jr., Todd Pletcher); Take Charge Briana (Luis Saez, D. Wayne Lukas); and Defining Purpose (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek).