LEXINGTON, Ky. — After two narrow losses in New York over the summer, connections felt what She Feels Pretty most needed in Saturday’s $719,375 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland were blinkers and early cover.
Getting both in the 1 1/8-mile grass test for three-year-old fillies, She Feels Pretty emphatically stamped her superiority over nine rivals, running away to a stakes-record six-length win under John Velazquez.
Sitting a pocket trip behind pacesetter Caitlinhergrtness through the opening seven furlongs, She Feels Pretty was tipped out into the two path turning for home and powered past the longtime leader. She Feels Pretty extended her margin through the final furlong, stopping the timer in a swift 1:46.50 over firm ground.
“We’ve been working her with the blinkers, trying to get her to stick to her own task,” said Cherie DeVaux, who trains She Feels Pretty for Lael Stables. “She needs cover, and just needs to come out and make that run.”
Favored at approximately 3-2, She Feels Pretty paid $5.08. Soprano, one of two European invaders, rallied for second by a neck over Caitlinhergrtness, who had a head on Pin Up Betty. The order of finish was rounded out by Grayosh, Oversubscribed, Buchu, Candala, Pounce, and Waves of Mischief.
The Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup was the second top-level win for She Feels Pretty, who landed the Natalma (G1) at Woodbine by more than four lengths in her second career outing last September. She was next favored at 7-2 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Santa Anita, but was beaten a half-length into third.
She Feels Pretty opened her three-year-old account with a 5 3/4-length score in the Hilltop S. at Pimlico on Preakness weekend, but went down narrowly in her next two starts. She finished third, beaten three parts of a length, by Cinderella’s Dream in the Belmont Oaks (G1) and then finished second by a neck to Grayosh in the Lake Placid (G2). Her record now stands at 7-4-1-2, $948,317.
Bred in Kentucky by Payson Stud and sold for $240,000 at Keeneland September, She Feels Pretty is by Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner Karakontie and out of Summer Sweet, by More Than Ready.
