Next-race plans undecided for Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Brad Cox reported that both his Kentucky Oaks winners, newly-minted heroine Shedaresthedevil and 2018 divisional champion Monomoy Girl, emerged in good order from their victories Friday at Churchill Downs.

“It was such an unbelievable day,” Cox, who saddled Shedaresthedevil to upset the Oaks less than an hour after Monomoy Girl won the Grade 1 La Troienne Stakes, said Saturday morning. “This filly has a ton of heart, and [jockey Florent Geroux] gave her the perfect ride.”

Cox did not indicate immediate next-race plans for Shedaresthedevil. However, co-owner Staton Flurry, a resident of Hot Springs, Ark., has a long-range plan that involves targeting the series of filly and mare route races in early 2021 at his local track, Oaklawn Park, which culminates with the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap. Oaklawn has scheduled the Pippin Stakes on Jan. 23, the Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes on Feb. 15, the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes on March 13, and finally, the Apple Blossom on April 17.

"For me, winning in Hot Springs at Oaklawn, that's the top of the bucket list," Flurry said. "Hopefully, we can give her some time off and bring her back fresh and maybe run two or three races there. . . . If we can sweep all those, get on the Breeders' Cup trail."

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Shedaresthedevil is already a graded stakes winner at Oaklawn Park, as she won the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes earlier this year. The Kentucky Oaks was her third graded victory of the season; she won the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks in her final prep.

Swiss Skydiver and Gamine, second and third, respectively, in the Oaks, also were reported to be in good shape Saturday morning by trainers Ken McPeek and Bob Baffert. No specific plans had yet been decided for either.

Swiss Skydiver, who exited the race with a few cuts on a front ankle that McPeek indicated are superficial, continued a fine season with her runner-up effort in the Oaks. The filly has won four of her last six starts, all in graded stakes around two turns, highlighted by the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes. She finished second to Art Collector, considered one of the best 3-year-old colts in the country, in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes, and now second in the Oaks.

Gamine, the Oaks favorite, was making her first start in a two-turn stakes and crossed the line behind horses for the first time in her five-start career. The only other blemish on her career was also around two turns, as she crossed the line first in an Oaklawn allowance race in May, but was later disqualified after a post-race test showed excessive amounts of the legal medication lidocaine.