After a pair of near-misses in graded company this summer, Lael Stables' She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) left nothing to chance Saturday at Keeneland, skipping home the easiest of winners in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes. The King's Plate winner Caitlinhergrtness (Omaha Beach) broke sharply and went right to the lead in the nine-furlong event, while She Feels Pretty, adding blinkers for this effort, sat just off the pacesetter and in cover along the rail. Caitlinhergrtness was clear through a quarter in :23.45 and a half in :47.79 and turned for home in front after three-quarters in 1:11.94, but She Feels Pretty tipped out a path at the top of the lane and took over in the blink of an eye before striding home a dominant six-length winner. European invader Soprano (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), who rated in midpack throughout, wheeled to the center of the course for the stretch run, and just edged Caitlinhergrtness for second. The time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:46.50.
“First of all, [trainer] Cherie [DeVaux] has done a great job with her, coming back with her race after race,” said winning jockey John Velazquez. “She's running great races. The blinkers helped her today as well, and the cover up works with her. When she's covered up and you pull her out, she passes horses. When she's hanging on the outside of horses, she thinks she's breezing, and then she kind of stays with the horses and never passes. Today she was covered up, and when I pulled her out, she was ready to go, and I made sure I kept her decent down the lane, just in case one of the European horses was coming running.”
She Feels Pretty won last year's GI Natalma Stakes and was a narrowly beaten third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She opened 2024 with a win in the May 17 Hilltop Stakes and was beaten 3/4 lengths when third in the July 6 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational and missed by just a neck when second in the Aug. 17 GII Lake Placid Stakes last time out.
“It's extremely gratifying when you have a filly at this level,” said DeVaux. “She puts it out there every time. She's been unlucky; in her last two she finished second and third. So we've been working with her with the blinkers, trying to get her to stick to her own task. I think Johnny hit it on the head with she needs cover and she just needs to come out and make that run.”
Pedigree Notes:
She Feels Pretty is one of eight graded winners for Gainesway's Karakontie. The stallion's other top-level winner is the filly Spendarella, who won the 2022 GI Del Mar Oaks.
Summer Sweet has an unraced 2-year-old colt named Summer Vibes (Good Magic), who sold to Boardshorts Stables for $600,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. Lael Stables returned to the family, buying the mare's yearling daughter of American Pharoah for $650,000 at this year's September Sale.
Summer Sweet, as part of the dispersal of the estate of Sarah Leigh, sold to Payson Stud for $550,000 at the 2016 Keeneland January sale. She has a weanling filly by Olympiad and was bred to Justify this year.
The mare is a half-sister to Grade I-placed Summer Solo (Arch), who is the dam of multiple graded winner Solo Album (Curlin)
Watch this jaw dropping performance! #3 SHE FEELS PRETTY ($5.08) absolutely dominates the $750,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at @keenelandracing. The daughter of Karakontie was ridden by @ljlmvel and is trained by @reredevaux.
Watch more on @FanDuelTV. pic.twitter.com/0TpIhxRIQf
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 12, 2024
Saturday, Keeneland
QUEEN ELIZABETH II CHALLENGE CUP S. PRESENTED BY DIXIANA-GI, $719,375, Keeneland, 10-12, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 1:46.50, fm.
1–SHE FEELS PRETTY, 121, f, 3, by Karakontie (Jpn)
1st Dam: Summer Sweet, by More Than Ready
2nd Dam: Summer Solstice (Ire), by Caerleon
3rd Dam: Summer Sonnet (GB), by Baillamont
($240,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Lael Stables; B-Payson Stud Inc
(KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-John R. Velazquez. $435,938.
Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-2, $948,317.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Soprano (Ire), 121, f, 3, by Starspangledbanner (Aus)
1st Dam: Lealas Daughter (Ire), by Excelebration (Ire)
2nd Dam: Leala (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire)
3rd Dam: Silver Bubble, by Silver Hawk
(€45,000 Wlg '21 GOFNO1; 100,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT).
O-Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, LLC; B-Empire
Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-George Boughey. $121,875.
3–Caitlinhergrtness, 121, f, 3, by Omaha Beach
1st Dam: Belatrix, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Diamond Necklace, by Unbridled's Song
3rd Dam: Helsinki (GB), by Machiavellian
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($65,000
Wlg '21 KEENOV; $160,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $375,000 2yo '23
OBSAPR). O-Siena Farm LLC and WinStar Farm LLC; B-Jesse
Korona (ON); T-Kevin Attard. $60,938.
Margins: 6, NK, HD. Odds: 1.54, 2.79, 14.29.
Also Ran: Pin Up Betty, Grayosh, Oversubscribed (GB), Buchu, Candala (Fr), Pounce, Waves of Mischief.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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