ARCADIA, Calif. – The 3-year-olds She Feels Pretty and King of Gosford will have wintertime vacations after winning graded stakes on turf at Santa Anita on Thursday.
She Feels Pretty won her second consecutive Grade 1 race in the $303,000 American Oaks at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-old fillies, taking a commanding lead in early stretch. She Feels Pretty won by 2 1/2 lengths as the favorite.
For 2025, She Feels Pretty will have a season geared toward the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
“That’s our goal,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said.
Owned by Lael Stables, She Feels Pretty won for the third time in five starts this year in the American Oaks, the longest race of her career.
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“The distance was an unknown,” DeVaux said. “She was training like she could do that.”
King of Gosford won his fourth stakes of 2024 in the Grade 2 Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds, leading throughout under jockey Flavien Prat. King of Gosford leaves Sunday for a local farm.
“We’ll give him a 30-day breather,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “I like to give these 3-year-olds turning 4 a break before they race against older.”
King of Gosford won the richest race of his career in the $201,000 Mathis Mile.
For Prat, the Mathis Mile was a milestone win, a record 56th graded stakes victory of the year, surpassing Jerry Bailey’s mark from 2003. Through Thursday, Prat has won a record 81 stakes this year.
There are no plans to pause with Johannes and Kopion, stakes winners on Thursday.
Johannes won his fifth stakes in six starts this year in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf. His only loss this year was a second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Johannes is a leading contender for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25.
Kopion scored a 37-1 upset in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs in her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles in April.
A winner of 3 of 5 starts, Kopion may start in the Grade 1 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs for older fillies and mares on Feb. 1, trainer Richard Mandella said on Friday.
“I’m going to live off this for a little while,” he said of Thursday’s win. “We’ll watch her and think about the Santa Monica.”
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