She Feels Pretty's future not yet determined
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She Feels Pretty, who should be named champion female turf horse of 2025, stands ready, willing, and able to race as a 5-year-old in 2026. Whether that happens, however, has yet to be decided.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux said Thursday that She Feels Pretty has come out of her excellent second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in good condition, but that discussions were ongoing with owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson, who race as Lael Stable, regarding She Feels Pretty’s future. The filly, DeVaux said, is getting a thorough veterinary examination and evaluation to help guide plans.
She Feels Pretty, by Karakontie, has compiled a 13-8-3-2 record over three seasons of racing. This year, she won the Grade 3 Modesty, the Grade 1 New York over soft ground, and the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on firmer footing at Woodbine.
In the Grade 1 Diana this summer at Saratoga, She Feels Pretty lost by a head to the retired and high-class Excellent Truth. In the BC Filly and Mare Turf, She Feels Pretty finished second by a half-length to French Oaks winner Gezora after breaking from a challenging outside post position and tracking a strong pace through a three-turn, 1 3/8-mile contest that’s probably a tick farther than ideal for her.
She Feels Pretty has won over seven different tracks at distances ranging from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles. She has never run below form, and her five defeats have come by two combined lengths.
“It kind of hit me this week just how awesome she really is,” DeVaux said.
Regardless of whether She Feels Pretty winds up racing or breeding, DeVaux has a healthy crop of 2-year-olds to manage. The fastest of them on the Beyer Speed Figure scale, Englishman, has, however, encountered what DeVaux termed “a minor issue” that has taken him out of training. Englishman, a Maxfield colt, debuted Sept. 18 at Churchill Downs and won a seven-furlong maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths, earning a 97 Beyer. DeVaux said she hopes Englishman can return to racing in late winter or early spring at Fair Grounds.
Atropa, a 2-year-old Into Mischief filly, makes her next start Nov. 29 in the Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill. A well-beaten sixth debuting at six furlongs over a sloppy Saratoga track on July 12, Atropa in her second start blitzed a Keeneland maiden route by 10 lengths.
“I just threw her first race out because I liked her so much going into it,” DeVaux said.
Paige Turner, a 2-year-old filly by Army Mule, ran second in her Saratoga debut at six furlongs before easily winning a seven-furlong maiden Oct. 31 at Churchill. She’s set to start on the same card as Atropa in the 6 1/2-furlong Fern Creek.
And DeVaux is high on a 2-year-old grass colt named Remember Mamba, a 4 1/2-length winner in his debut and lone start, a 1 1/8-mile Keeneland turf maiden. DeVaux has Remember Mamba aimed toward a Fair Grounds grass allowance.
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