2020 Eclipse Awards: Shedaresthedevil

Shedaresthedevil dared to take on the best of her division this season, and it paid off with a victory in the nation’s signature race for 3-year-old fillies. The Eclipse Award finalist’s claim to fame is a record-setting victory in the 146th running of the Kentucky Oaks, defeating her two divisional finalists, Swiss Skydiver and Gamine.

Shedaresthedevil, by Daredevil and out of the Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed, was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm and originally raced for a partnership led by Glencrest Farm. After winning her debut at Churchill Downs for Norm Casse, she was sent to Simon Callaghan in California for the rest of her juvenile campaign, finishing third in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes on dirt and second in the Anokia Stakes on turf.

She was sold for $280,000 during the horses of racing age portion of the 2019 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, and now races for the partnership of Flurry, Qatar Racing Limited, and Big Aut Farms, under the care of trainer Brad Cox.

Shedaresthedevil wintered at Oaklawn Park, where she began the season by finishing second in an allowance-level event to Bonny South, who went on to win the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks. She subsequently won the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes and finished third to Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes. She got back in the win column with a six-length allowance victory at Churchill Downs on June 5, followed by a five-length win in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks on July 8.

:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

With that momentum behind her, Cox endeavored to keep his filly fresh until the Kentucky Oaks, which had been postponed to Sept. 4 by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the more than eight weeks between her final prep and the filly classic, Shedaresthedevil turned in several sharp works at Churchill Downs, including a move with an elder stablemate, 2018 Oaks winner and champion Monomoy Girl.

“It worked out well,” Cox said. “Monomoy Girl was maybe a touch better in the lane in the work, but we’ve not really ever had one that can keep up with her in the mornings. [Shedaresthedevil had] been touting herself in the mornings, that she had a big one in her.”

The big one came at the perfect time. In the Kentucky Oaks, Shedaresthedevil edged past pacesetter Gamine in the stretch, and then held off Swiss Skydiver to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Her time for the 1 1/8 miles on a fast Churchill track was 1:48.28, establishing a stakes record as she shaded the 1:48.64 run by Bird Town in 2003.

One month later, Shedaresthedevil took on elders for the first time, finishing third behind Valiance and Ollie’s Candy in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes after setting an honest pace. Her connections subsequently elected to skip the Breeders’ Cup in favor of having her arrive at Oaklawn as a fresh horse for a winter-spring campaign. Flurry is a resident of Hot Springs, Ark., and has long expressed his desire to target one of Oaklawn’s signature races, the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap, as Shedaresthedevil’s major goal for the first half of 2021.

“That’s at the top of the bucket list,” Flurry said.