Musical Mischief scores in the Locust Grove (Coady Media)
Churchill Downs Press Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Stoneway Farm’s Musical Mischief overcame traffic trouble at the top of the stretch and shot through an opening at the three-sixteenths pole to power home and score a 16-1 upset in Saturday’s 40th running of the $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Locust Grove (Grade II) for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs with a 3 ¼-length triumph over 43-1 longshot Corningstone. Shotgun Hottie, the 6-5 favorite, was another half-length back in third.
Ridden by Edgar Morales and trained by Michael McCarthy, Musical Mischief ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:42.91.
Free Like a Girl dictated the early pace of :24.16 and :48.29 as Pigalle chased from the outside and Musical Mischief tracked in third along the rail. Around the far turn after six furlongs in 1:12.17, Free Like A Girl began to tire. Musical Mischief was positioned just behind the fading leader but had nowhere to run and Morales was forced to check hard at the quarter pole. Soon thereafter, a seam opened between Free Like A Girl and Pigalle and Musical Mischief surged past those two with an eighth of a mile to run and widened her margin down the stretch for the surprise victory.
“When she ran (fourth) last time at Ellis in the Groupie Doll we thought the flat mile might be a bit too short for her that day,” Morales said. “She still ended up running well but we had a lot of confidence in her that she’d improve going two turns today. She was loaded turning for home. I waited a little bit at the rail to try and find room. Once we got outside and she got clear running room she just took off.”
Musical Mischief, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Into Mischief out of the Bellamy Road mare Sophia’s Song, returned $35.64, $17.26 and $7.48. Corningstone, ridden by Julien Leparoux, returned $29.68 and $9.22. Shotgun Hottie, with Jose Ortiz up, paid $2.40 to show.
#1 MUSICAL MISCHIEF ($34.00) after having to check finally got a lane to get thru and pulled away to win the $400,000 Locust Grove Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs. @EMoralesRacing was in the irons for @mwmracing. Congrats to all the connections! pic.twitter.com/awHRgg4Su3
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) September 14, 2024
Pigalle was fourth and was followed by Taxed, Loved, Hoosier Philly and Free Like a Girl.
The victory was worth $240,420 to Musical Mischief and increased her earnings to $515,024 with a record of 4-2-1 from 12 starts. This was the first stakes win of her career.
“Early in the winter she really wasn’t herself so we sent her home and when she came back here in Kentucky she was back to her old self,” McCarthy said. “Today, three furlongs from home, I could tell she was loaded. Edgar did a great job to bide his time and be as patient as he could. It really paid off.”
The Locust Grove is named after the 1790 Georgian mansion in Louisville that played home to ancestors of Churchill Downs founder Col. M. Lewis Clark.
