She Feels Pretty Adds Blinkers, Rolls to Big Win in Keeneland's QEII Cup

October 12th, 2024 by Molly Rollins

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2024 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup, Keeneland, She Feels Pretty

She Feels Pretty runs away from her rivals to win Keeneland's Grade 1 QEII Cup. (Carson Blevins/Eclipse Sportswire)

Outfitted with blinkers for the first time, She Feels Pretty responded to the equipment change with a dominant victory in the $750,000 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup presented by Dixiana on Oct. 12 at Keeneland.

She Feels Pretty had struggled to piece together her best form during her sophomore campaign following a Grade 1 win in the 2023 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes at Woodbine and a gallant third-place finish in last fall's NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as a 2-year-old. There was an emphatic score in Pimlico's Hilltop Stakes against overmatched rivals to begin her season, but from there She Feels Pretty suffered two straight losses when jumping back into graded competition.

Leading up to the QEII Cup, trainer Cherie DeVaux noted She Feels Pretty was hanging in the stretch in both of her prior outings, waiting on her competition rather than passing them, which ultimately led to the decision to run the filly in blinkers.

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With a strong pair of European runners partaking in this year's QEII, She Feels Pretty would need to give her best effort to take the crown for Keeneland-based DeVaux.

She responded with the performance of her career.

At the start, Canadian invader Caitlininhergrtness, conqueror of males in Woodbine's $1 million King's Plate Stakes, set an early pace of :23.45 and :47.79 as She Feels Pretty tucked comfortably and patiently into third position for most of the 1 1/8-mile journey for regular pilot John Velazquez. After six furlongs in 1:11.94, Caitlininhergrtness was no match for She Feels Pretty, who angled into the clear and exploded down the lane.

"The blinkers worked really well with her today," said Velazquez. "The cover-up works with her too. When she's covered up and you angle her out, she passes horses. Today she was covered up and when I pulled her out, she was ready to go. I made sure I kept her decent down the lane just in case one of those European horses come running."

The Europeans never came close. Second-choice Soprano got up for a distant second but was 6 lengths behind the winner. Caitlininhergrtness was a neck back in third, who was another head in front of 27-1 shot Pin Up Betty in fourth.

Sizzling through a final eighth of a mile in :11 3/5 seconds, She Feels Pretty established a new record margin of victory in her QEII tour de force. Bet down to 3-2 odds as the post-time favorite, she clocked the distance in 1:46.50 over a firm turf course ad paid $5.08 to win.

She Feels Pretty, who gave DeVaux the first Grade 1 win of her training career last year in the Natalma Stakes improved her earnings to $948,317 with her second top-level score.

"When you have a filly of this level, she puts it out there every time," DeVaux said.