LOUISVILLE, Ky. – She Feels Pretty ended her 2024 campaign the best 3-year-old grass filly in North America and began her 4-year-old season Friday at Churchill Downs looking like she’ll occupy the same position in the older filly and mare turf ranks this year.
Snugged back to fourth by John Velazquez after leaving the gate and making her first pass through the Churchill homestretch, She Feels Pretty pounced on the two leaders coming into the stretch for the second time and went on to a dominant 2 1/4-length over South African star Gimme a Nother in the Grade 3, $400,000 Modesty Stakes. Racing for the first time since Dec. 26, She Feels Pretty ran 1 1/8 miles over a firm, lightning-fast turf course in 1:45.51, besting by more than one second the course record Dalika set in August 2022.
She Feels Pretty earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96.
She Feels Pretty has six wins from nine starts, never has finished worse than third, and has turned in three brilliant performances since trainer Cherie DeVaux began racing the filly in blinkers.
“I think I put a lot more pressure on myself with a horse like this than if we’re just kind of flying under the radar,” said DeVaux, who trains She Feels Pretty for the Lael Stables of Roy and Gretchen Jackson. “The filly’s done everything we’ve ever asked of her. She’s really never put in a bad race.”
She Feels Pretty showed her talent from a start, winning a 5 1/2-furlong maiden turf sprint at Ellis Park in her debut. DeVaux started her off at 1 1/8 miles this year because She Feels Pretty, while completely capable as a miler, might be even better over a longer trip. Her next start, DeVaux said, comes in the 1 3/16-mile New York on June 6 at Saratoga.
She Feels Pretty had about 30 days of true down time after winning the Grade 1 American Oaks in her 3-year-old finale. She Feels Pretty retained much of her deep fitness, and DeVaux said her preparation into the Modesty came off perfectly. It showed.
Velazquez said he had one goal leaving the starting gate at the head of the homestretch: Find cover for She Feels Pretty. Velazquez had concerns about She Feels Pretty racing too keenly in her first start back, and she did take a strong hold of the bit the first several jumps out of the gate. Segesta went for the lead, racing along the rail, longshot Birdie Rose taking a position just outside her. Velazquez ducked in behind Birdie Rose, dropped her head sufficiently, and from there, it was just a matter of time.
The quarter- and half-mile splits came up fast in every turf race Friday, and the pace, accounting for the speed of the track, wasn’t actually as strong as the times, 22.90 and 47.05 seconds. She Feels Pretty held her position, no issue, until Velazquez peeled out past the five-sixteenths pole and took aim at the leaders. She Feels Pretty pounced, quickly opened a lead, and while she didn’t wide through the final half-furlong, she did dash several further lengths clear on the gallop-out.
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“When I put her in the clear, she knows it’s time to go,” Velazquez said. “She makes me look good.”
She Feels Pretty paid $3.58 as the heavy favorite, with Gimme a Nother up for second by a half-length over Saffron Moon as the 3-1 second choice. Segesta held admirably for fourth, 2 1/2 lengths behind Saffron Moon, while making her first start since last summer. She Feels Pretty, bred by Payson Stud and purchased by the Jacksons for $240,000 as a yearling, is by Karakontie out of Summer Sweet, by More Than Ready.
Gimme a Nother fell too far behind the pace to make a serious run at the winner but did clock the race’s fastest final furlong, 11.30, to earn the place. Unbeaten in seven South African starts from one mile to 1 1/8 miles, Gimme a Nother gives trainer Graham Motion the impression she’ll require more distance to show her best in America. She’ll get another half-furlong in the New York, Gimme a Nother’s tentative next start. But if She Feels Pretty continues on this trajectory, she might have no divisional equal on this continent.
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