DeVaux ships Cliffs to Santa Anita early

Cliffs, a 3-year-old filly trained by Cherie DeVaux, arrived at Santa Anita on Thursday after a 30-hour van ride from Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans for an intended start in the Grade 1 American Oaks on Dec. 26.

There was no other way to get there.

In late November, the shipping company Federal Express announced it was pausing equine transport via air until early January. The company made a similar decision last year in early December.

The policy may affect the number of runners from outside of California that start in the major stakes in the early days of the Santa Anita meeting, which begins on Dec. 26. The opening-day program has six graded stakes, including three Grade 1 races worth $300,000 apiece.

DeVaux won the 2025 American Oaks with She Feels Pretty. She said on Friday that sending Cliffs to Santa Anita three weeks before the $300,000 American Oaks was in the filly’s best interest.

“She’s a pretty straightforward filly to train,” DeVaux said. “If we were going to get her there, we thought we should do it as quick as we could. We want her to have plenty of time to get over the trip.”

Cliffs, a winner of 2 of 5 starts, will be based at trainer John Sadler’s stable. The American Oaks, run at 1 1/4 miles on turf for 3-year-old fillies, will be the first start in a stakes for Cliffs. Owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s Lael Stables, Cliffs won her last start in a Churchill Downs allowance at a mile on turf on Nov. 7, closing from sixth in a field of nine to win by a head.

Nominations for 10 stakes at Santa Anita from Dec. 26-28 close on Dec. 12. The nominations will give track officials a better idea of how many runners from outside of California will race that weekend.

Jason Egan, Santa Anita’s director of racing, said on Friday that the absence of flight service is “not ideal for us.”

Elsewhere in her stable, DeVaux said She Feels Pretty, who was second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1 , is currently in the midst of a rest. Owned by the Jacksons, She Feels Pretty is tentatively scheduled to race in 2026 as a 5-year-old.

“She’s just getting scheduled time off,” DeVaux said. “As long as she comes back as good as she left, we’ll run her. Hopefully, we can continue with her career.”

She Feels Pretty has won 8 of 13 starts and earned $2,550,592.