She Feels Pretty Comes West And Takes Down The Grade I, $300,000 American Oaks

SHE FEELS PRETTY COMES WEST AND TAKES DOWN THE GRADE I, $300,000 AMERICAN OAKS GOING 1 ¼ MILES ON TURF ON OPENING DAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (Dec. 26, 2024)—Eastern invader She Feels Pretty made it back-to-back Grade I wins Thursday with another dominant victory in the Grade I, $300,000 American Oaks on opening day of the Santa Anita Classic Meet Thursday.

She Feels Pretty, who won the GI Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland by six lengths in October, this time rolled to a comprehensive 2 ½-length victory in the 1 ¼-mile American Oaks on turf. Hall of Famer John Velazquez was aboard for both victories.

“She is such a special filly,” said winning trainer Cherie DeVaux. “Johnny has done a great job helping us get her to where she is. It has been a team effort for everybody to get her here.”

Sent off as the 3-5 favorite, She Feels Pretty was forwardly placed throughout while racing under a tight hold. On the final turn, She Feels Pretty went wide and unleashed a scintillating turn of foot to blow by the field and win easily by 2 ½ lengths.

“She got a little keen, broke a little slow and then when she passed the dirt she took like a weird step and then she got up and started running up,” Velazquez said. “I wanted to keep her covered up, she is much better covered up, but today she was really keen. I put her right behind the horse in front of me and I held her the best I could.”

The winning time on firm turf was 1:58.69 following fractions of 23.20, 46.25, 1:11.51 and 1:36.06. Kathynmarissa (4-1), ridden by Frankie Dettori for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., finished second. She was followed by Medoro (6-1) in third with Rashmi (25-1) rounding out the superfecta.

She Feels Pretty, a $240,000 auction buy as a yearling, improved to 8: 5-1-2 with $1,128,317 in earnings for owner Lael Stables. As a 2-year-old, the daughter of Karakontie won her first two starts including the GI Natalma at Woodbine before finishing third by a half length as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

This year, she won the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico in May and was beaten by less than a length in both the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational and GII Lake Placid before taking Queen Elizabeth II.

“It’s really special,” DeVaux said. “She is a filly that as an early 2-year-old she was kind of like an ugly duckling. She just needed to grow into herself. Still, she won her first time out going five and a half furlongs and now she is up to a mile and a quarter so it has been quite rewarding to watch the process.”

She Feels Pretty paid $3.20, $2.20 and $2.10. Kathynmarissa returned $3.80 and $2.80. Medoro, ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer Peter Eurton, paid $2.80.