DeVaux likely sending She Feels Pretty to American Oaks

While Cherie DeVaux trained More Than Looks to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile last weekend at Del Mar, she’s not done seeking Grade 1 turf prizes in 2024.

She Feels Pretty, smashing winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Oct. 12 at Keeneland, will likely travel to California for the Grade 1 American Oaks on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

She Feels Pretty, a close third in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, took tough losses as an odds-on favorite in the Belmont Oaks Invitational and the Lake Placid this summer. Believing the filly had more ability than she expressed in those races, DeVaux tried She Feels Pretty in blinkers last month and got a six-length QE II victory out of her. The 100 Beyer Speed Figure that performance yielded rates as the highest turf-route number during 2024 for a North American-based 3-year-old of either sex. Notable Speech, a colt who shipped from England, got a 103 finishing third in the BC Mile.

DeVaux got her first Breeders’ Cup win in the Mile but earlier on that card, Vahva finished a disappointing eighth in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint. Through mid-summer, Vahva seemed as likely a winner as anyone for the Filly and Mare Sprint, but she performed below her best form finishing third in the Ballerina at Saratoga in August, and ran worse at Del Mar.

Vahva shipped back to Kentucky and underwent a thorough veterinary examination that revealed a minor injury requiring 30 to 60 days’ rest, DeVaux said. Connections plan to campaign the filly at age 5 next year, with the Madison Stakes at Keeneland in April an early-season goal.

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