Shedaresthedevil, the winner of 2020 Kentucky Oaks, is pregnant for the first time to record-setting sire Gun Runner, the social media account for owner Whisper Hill Farm announced Tuesday.
Owner Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm bought out partners Flurry Racing Stables and Qatar Racing Limited during last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale with a final bid of $5 million.
Shedaresthedevil, a 6-year-old Daredevil mare, retired with 10 wins in 21 career starts for earnings of $2,777,458. She began her racing career with owner Glencrest Farm and trainer Norm Casse, who campaigned her to a debut maiden special weight victory at Churchill Downs. After moving to the West Coast barn of trainer Simon Callaghan to complete her 2-year-old season, Shedaresthedevil finished third in the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar and second in the Anoakia Stakes at the same track.
At the end of her juvenile campaign, Shedaresthedevil was entered in the Horse of Racing Age portion of the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where she sold to Flurry Racing Stables for $280,000, with Qatar Racing Stables joining as a partner. She was placed with trainer Brad Cox, and she became one of the top fillies on the COVID-extended 2020 Kentucky Oaks trail, picking up victories in the G3 Honeybee Stakes and G3 Indiana Oaks before besting eventual Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver in the Kentucky Oaks.
That success continued at age four, when Shedaresthedevil notched victories in the G1 La Troienne Stakes and Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, the G2 Azeri Stakes, and the G3 Locust Grove Stakes. At the end of the season, she was offered as a racing or broodmare prospect at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton November sale, where Whisper Hill joined the existing ownership group with a $5-million hammer price.
Shedaresthedevil's 5-year-old campaign was highlighted by a win in the G2 Fleur de Lis Stakes before she was purchased outright and retired at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale.
Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Shedaresthedevil is out of the winning Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed. She is a half-sister to the Grade 3-placed runner Mojovation, from the family of Grade 2 winner Crafty C. T.
Gun Runner, a 9-year-old son of Candy Ride, stands at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., for a private fee.
He was the leading freshman sire of 2021, posting record earnings for a rookie sire led by Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and champion Echo Zulu. He was arguably the most active sire on last year's classic trail with his first class of 3-year-olds, including Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting, and Grade 1 winners Taiba and Cyberknife.
Gun Runner was named Horse of the Year in 2017, highlighting a career where he won 12 of 19 starts for earnings of $15,988,500. Among his conquests were the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic, Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, Woodward Stakes, Whitney Stakes, Stephen Foster Handicap, and Clark Handicap.
Recognize that bay mare?
She's too busy living her best life and visiting all the best mud spas to pose, but SHEDARESTHEDEVIL has a big announcement- she's expecting a Gun Runner foal in 2024! pic.twitter.com/m8EHSPpggk— Whisper Hill Farm (@whisper_hill) April 4, 2023
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