Shedaresthedevil to skip Breeders' Cup, be pointed to Oaklawn stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil, who finished third in the Grade 1 Spinster on Sunday at Keeneland in her first try against older horses, will pass on the Breeders’ Cup in favor of arriving at Oaklawn Park as a fresh horse for a winter-spring campaign.

Shedaresthedevil set an honest pace in the Spinster before being overhauled in the stretch, finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind victorious Valiance. Immediately after the race, trainer Brad Cox called the Breeders’ Cup “a big, big question mark.” Co-owner Staton Flurry’s Flurry Racing confirmed on Twitter the following morning that the filly would get a vacation.

“She went too fast, too early,” Cox said. “She never got a breather. It was a lot to ask, bringing her back in four weeks.”

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Flurry, who owns Shedaresthedevil with Qatar Racing and Big Aut Farms, is a resident of Hot Springs, Ark., and has said the long-range goal is targeting the series of filly and mare route races in 2021 at Oaklawn, 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 the Apple Blossom on April 17.

“For me, winning in Hot Springs at Oaklawn, that’s the top of the bucket list,” Flurry said after the Kentucky Oaks. “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.”

Shedaresthedevil is already a graded stakes winner at Oaklawn Park, as she won the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes this year. She also won the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks before defeating subsequent Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver in the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks.