Shedaresthedevil Romps In Clement L. Hirsch, Earns Breeders’ Cup Distaff Spot

Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing Limited or Big Aut Farms' Shedaresthedevil walked her beat Sunday at Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., and came away a handy 3 1/4-length winner of the Grade 1, $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes.

The big bay daughter of Daredevil broke smartly, sat just behind the speed, then went to the front when rider Florent Geroux gave her the signal on the far turn and left little doubt as to who the best horse was Sunday in the 1 1/16-mile headliner.

Trainer Brad Cox sent assistant Eric Gary west with his 4-year-old and he watched her cover the distance in 1:45.38, drawing away from her rivals at the finish.

Running second in the Hirsch was the pacesetter, Ciagila Racing, Highland Yard, et al's Venetian Harbor, who had 3 1/4 lengths on Mathiesen Racing, Feghali, et al's Paige Anne. Fractions were  :23.30, :47.21, 1:11.77 and 1:38.33.

Shedaresthedevil, who went off at 13-10, returned $4.60, $2.60 and $2.60 across the board. Venetian Harbor paid $3.20 and $3.60 and Paige Anne returned $5.80 to show.

“I'm very pleased,” said Geroux. “The idea was to get her to break alertly, then get a good spot. That's exactly what happened. She ran her race today and she's very good when she does. I'd have to say she's up there with the best mares I've ever ridden. And his is her third Grade 1 win. And the fact that she showed she can run well on the track where the Breeders' Cup will be held, that's a good thing, too.”The win was worth $180,000 to Shedaresthedevil and pushed her sizable bankroll past the $2 million mark to $2,047,318. She now has won eight of 15 starts with two seconds and four thirds besides.

The Hirsch was a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff, which will be run at Del Mar on November 6 at nine furlongs. Shedaresthedevil earned a fees-paid berth in the Distaff.

“We sat right off the lead, nice, calm and relaxed and when it was time to go she showed up like she was supposed to,” said Gary, Cox's assistant. “We had a good stalking position and when I saw they went the half in :47, I thought we were going to be OK. Being around her this morning, I had a really good feeling that she was going to run big today. She flies back tomorrow (to Kentucky) with some other horses and then I guess she'll be back in November. ”

The track's Pick Six Single Ticket Jackpot wager carried over for the eighth straight day. The sum that will be in the pool when racing resumes Thursday starting at 2 p.m. will now be $686,925.

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Elevated Temperatures Knock Swiss Skydiver And Valiance Out Of Ogden Phipps

Trainer Kenny McPeek announced on Twitter Friday morning that Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, would be scratched from Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

“Unfortunately Swiss Skydiver had a 104 fever this morning,” McPeek Tweeted. “We are a scratch. We've treated her to knock down the fever and will regroup later in the season. Never easy.”

The scratch reduces the Phipps field to five starters following Daily Racing Form's report on Thursday that Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin Schwartz and CHC Inc.'s Valiance, winner of the G1 Spinster at Keeneland and second to Monomoy Girl in the G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff for trainer Todd Pletcher, was also knocked out by an elevated temperature.

Swiss Skydiver was the 5-2 co-second choice on the morning line behind 8-5 favorite Letruska, with Valiance listed at 4-1.

Swiss Skydiver's fever came after she vanned from Churchill Downs in Kentucky to Belmont Park. An experienced traveler, the daughter of Daredevil has competed over nine different tracks in a 14-race career.

On Thursday, DRF's Mike Welsch first reported the scratch of Valiance, a 5-year-old Tapit mare who would have been making her first start since the Breeders' Cup. “We're dealing with a temperature issue,” Pletcher told Welsch. “It's frustrating, She never trained better. Bad timing.”

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Shedaresthedevil an Oaks Day Victress Once Again

You can't keep the Brad Cox barn down for long. One race after previously unbeaten heavy favorite Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) finished a head-scratching fifth in the GII Edgewood S., the Eclipse-winning conditioner sent out last year's GI Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil to a convincing victory as the chalk.

Three-for-three under the Twin Spires already, Shedaresthedevil was hard ridden to make the lead and was able to slow it down from there to post comfortable splits of :23.99, :47.94 and 1:11.74. They stacked up behind the leader heading for home, and Shedaresthedevil briefly looked like she might get beat–most likely by rail-skimming Envoutante–but she dug deep and found more in midstretch to pull clear again under the line.

“She loves to race at Churchill; she showed it again today,” rider Florent Geroux said. “They made me work hard for this. When we turned for home, she kept her head up and I could tell she was digging in. Those other fillies came to her but she showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit and I knew she wasn't going to let them by.”

Acquired by Flurry Racing Stables for $280,000 out of the 2019 Keeneland November sale off a pair of stakes placings at two, the bay was transferred from Simon Callaghan to Cox with previous co-owner Qatar Racing staying in for a piece. She was second to eventual MGSW stablemate Bonny South (Munnings) in an Oaklawn allowance last February, and annexed that venue's GIII Honeybee S. that March. A well-beaten third behind future champion 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GIII Fantasy S. May 1, she was a six-length optional claiming winner under the Twin Spires the following month before dominating the GIII Indiana Oaks in July.

Let go at 15-1 for the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks, she proved best on the day while beating both Swiss Skydiver and odds-on Gamine (Into Mischief), who would go on to earn an Eclipse herself as champion female sprinter. Given the rest of the season off after a third in Keeneland's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. Oct. 4, Shedaresthedevil bested Letruska (Super Saver) by a head in Oaklawn's Mar. 13 GII Azeri S. That performance was flattered significantly when Letruska returned to down Shedaresthedevil's superstar stablemate Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 17.

“This is huge,” said Cox. “She has been training really well coming up to this. We freshened her up after the Spinster last year. We didn't want to try and chase the [GI] Breeders' Cup Distaff. It was obviously the right move. She's moved forward at four. She's shown that in her two starts. She has a lot of fight and determination down the lane. She showed that again today down the lane. She's now a Grade I winner at four. We'll target the Breeders' Cup Distaff and work our way back from that. There some obvious races in New York and one at Del Mar we are thinking about.”

Friday, Churchill Downs
LA TROIENNE S. PRESENTED BY TWINSPIRES.COM-GI, $500,000, Churchill Downs, 4-30, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:42.69, ft.
1–SHEDARESTHEDEVIL, 123, f, 4, by Daredevil
                1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats
                2nd Dam: Andria's Forest, by Forestry
                3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
($100,000 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $20,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP;
$280,000 2yo '19 KEENOV). O-Flurry Racing Stables LLC, Qatar
Racing Limited and Big Aut Farms; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $303,800. Lifetime Record:
13-7-2-3, $1,807,318. *1/2 to Mojovation (Quality Road), GSP,
$196,388. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: B.
2–Envoutante, 118, f, 4, by Uncle Mo
1st Dam: Enchante (MSP, $153,172), by Bluegrass Cat
2nd Dam: Wear, by Arch
3rd Dam: Abrade, by Mr. Prospector
($250,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Walking L Thoroughbreds, LLC
and Three Chimneys Farm; B-Jumping Jack Racing LLC (KY);
T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $98,000.
3–Finite, 118, f, 4, by Munnings
1st Dam: Remit (MSW, $257,556), by Tapit
2nd Dam: Free Spin, by Olympio
3rd Dam: Spin n Win, by Private Account
($200,000 2yo '19 EASMAY). O-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC,
Reiman, Thomas J., Dickson, William and Easter, Deborah A.;
B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$49,000.
Margins: 1, 2, HF. Odds: 1.70, 3.70, 10.60.
Also Ran: Bajan Girl, Dunbar Road, Paris Lights, Sanenus (Chi).
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

   Shedaresthedevil is one of two Grade I/graded winners for her sire Daredevil with the other being Swiss Skydiver. She is also one of five stakes winners for the young stallion, who was repatriated from Turkey by Lane's End to stand the 2021 seasson. The 4-year-old filly is one of three graded victors and nine black-type scorers out of a daughter of Congrats. She is bred on the same More Then Ready/A.P. Indy Cross as MGSW Hungry Island. The winner's dam Starship Warpspeed is also responsible for a juvenile filly named Blackheartedgypsy (Speightster), purchased for $50,000 at KEESEP by Flurry Racing Stables; a yearling filly by Exaggerator; and an Uncle Mo colt foaled Mar. 26. Shedaresthedevil hails from the family of GSW & MGISP Crafty C.T. (Crafty Prospector).

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Champions Battle in Apple Blossom

Saturday's GI Apple Blossom H. at Oaklawn Park features a clash between champions Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) and Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil).

Named champion 3-year-old filly off a sparkling 2018 campaign, Monomoy Girl returned from a year and a half on the sidelines to win all four starts in 2020, including Churchill's GI La Troienne S. followed by a successful title defense in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland. After realizing $9.5 million from Spendthrift Farm at Fasig-Tipton in November, the 6-year-old mare marked her debut sporting the MyRacehorse silks when taking Oaklawn's GIII Bayakoa S. Feb. 28. The Brad Cox trainee has shown signs of readiness for her step back up to Grade I company with a swift four-furlong breeze in :47.60 at Oaklawn Apr. 11.

Looking to stand in the two-time champion's way is Swiss Skydiver, who enters Saturday's test off a confident victory in the GI Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Mar. 13. Trained by Ken McPeek, the chestnut bagged five graded stakes victories in 2020, highlighted by the GI Alabama S. and the GI Preakness S., when she was seen defeating subsequent sophomore champion colt and Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief). Despite finishing seventh behind Monomoy Girl on Breeders' Cup day, she earned a divisional title for a season that saw her win five of 10 starts while earning over $1.6 million for owner Peter Callaghan. Robbie Albarado, aboard for her three latest starts, returns to the irons Saturday.

Swiss Skydiver arrived at Oaklawn Wednesday afternoon and galloped over a muddy surface after the second renovation break Thursday morning. She has registered three workouts since the Beholder, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.40 at Churchill Downs Apr. 10.

“It's scary,” Albarado said. “She might be better than last year. She's doing so good right now.”

Swiss Skydiver can collect a $60,000 bonus for winning the Apple Blossom for racing Lasix-free.

“She doesn't need it,” McPeek said. “She's never really needed it. We took her off Lasix for her last start because she's going to be running the rest of the year without it, anyway.”

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