OAKLAWN: GOLDEN MISCHIEF WINS PURPLE MARTIN VIA DISQUALIFICATION

By Jennifer Hoyt —-

HOT SPRINGS, AR (Saturday, March 25, 2017) – William and Corinne Heiligbrodt’s Golden Mischief was the beneficiary when Our Majesty interfered with her stablemate Vertical Oak and was disqualified from first and placed fourth in Saturday’s $125,000 Purple Martin Stakes.

Leading trainer Steve Asmussen trains both Golden Mischief, who was elevated from second to first and Vertical Oak, who was moved up from fourth to third after losing all chances down the backside. Dixie Belle and Martha Washington Stakes winner Chanel’s Legacy was elevated to second from third.

“The one (Vertical Oak) and two (Our Majesty) horses were basically running side by side down the backside. The two horse gradually drifted in, impeding the one horse and causing her to check,” steward John Ferrara said while explaining the reason for the disqualification.

Our Majesty held a narrow lead through early fractions of :23 1/5 and :46 for the first half mile. She continued to lead the field around the turn before drawing off late in the stretch, completing the six furlong race in 1:10 2/5. Golden Mischief was sixth early, split horses inside the furlong marker to finish strong, but finished 1 ½ lengths behind the winner.

Golden Mischief, an Into Mischief filly, has now won five of 10 career starts and her earnings now stand at $251,730. She returned $7.40, $4.00 and $3.00 as the second choice in the field of seven.

The victory in the Purple Martin was the third on the card for Asmussen, who was in Dubai where he saddled Razorback Handicap winner Gun Runner to a second-place finish in the $10 million Dubai World Cup earlier in the day.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Oaklawn with a 1:30 p.m. first post.

Purple Martin Stakes Quotes:

Winning jockey Geovanni Franco aboard winner Golden Mischief – “I want to thank God, the owners, and the trainer Steve Asmussen for giving me a chance to ride a really nice filly. She broke well and finished well. We won by disqualification, and I am just thankful that it went our way and thankful that my filly ran well. She ran a winning race.”

Jockey Luis Contreras aboard 3rd place finish Vertical Oak – “The #2 (Our Majesty) just tied me up on the backside. My horse just can’t handle that kind of pressure from the outside. After that I just continued the race with my filly to try and get her some confidence back. But the problems early in the race took everything away.”

Jockey Alex Birzer, second after the disqualification aboard Chanel’s Legacy – My filly ran a good race. She just got out run. The winner (Our Majesty) is going to go on and be somebody. My filly just got out run. She did everything right, she ran a big race.”