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Spectator-less Kentucky Oaks-Derby Day Wagering Down Nearly 50%, Lowest Since 2002.

A historic Kentucky Derby saw Authentic claim the Garland of Roses in what was the first time the race had ever occurred on Labor Day weekend.

Authentic, owned by Spendthrift Farm, LLC, Myracehorse.com, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing and bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, led from the start, held off a challenge through the stretch from Tiz The Law and drew away to a 1 1/4-length victory. Trainer Bob Baffert secured his sixth Kentucky Derby win, tying the all-time record and jockey John Velazquez won the Kentucky Derby for the third time.

“We are grateful to our fans and our community for their support of the 146^th Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated. “We look forward to seeing our loyal fans at next year's 147^th Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby on the first weekend of May.”

Wagering from all-sources on the Kentucky Derby Day program totaled $126.0 million compared to $250.9 million on the 2019 Kentucky Derby Day program. All-sources wagering on the Kentucky Derby race was $79.4 million compared to $165.5 million from last year's Derby race.

Churchill Downs attributed the decline in handle for this year's Derby Day program to the lack of on-track wagering, fewer horses per race including in the Kentucky Derby race, and a prohibitive favorite in the Derby race.

Similar declines were reported for Kentucky Oaks day on Friday, which saw a decline in wagers from $60.1 million in 2019 to $30.6 million in 2020. The Oaks itself handled $9.8 million compared to $19.3 million in 2019.

Combined Oaks-Derby day wagering totaled $156.6 million, a 49.7% decline from the record $311.1 million wagered in 2019 when the Oaks and Derby were run in May.

In 2019, $31.2 million was bet on-track at Churchill Downs on Oaks and Derby day ($9.9 million on the Oaks card and $21.3 million on the Derby). That's equal to 20.2% of the $154.4 million in lost wagers this year.

Other wagering declines resulted from a contract dispute between Churchill Downs Inc. and the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association representing race and sports books throughout Nevada. Race and sports books were permitted to book wagers on the races but they were not commingled into the pari-mutuel pools hosted by Churchill Downs or counted in the totals.

The combined Oaks and Derby day wagers were the lowest since 2002.

The Churchill Downs press release added, “Although it is difficult to compare the financial performance to prior years, we are pleased with the profitability of the spectator-less 2020 Derby Week.”

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Oaks Winner Shedaresthedevil Caps ‘Unbelieveable Day’ For Cox, Geroux

It was a thrilling Friday for the team of Brad Cox and Florent Geroux as the duo teamed up for their second Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) victory in the last three years with Qatar Racing, Flurry Racing and Big Aut Farm's Shedaresthedevil.

“It was such an unbelievable day,” Cox said. “This filly has a ton of heart and Flo gave her the perfect ride.”

Cox had an eerily similar morning Saturday as he did in 2018 following Monomoy Girl's Kentucky Oaks victory. The Louisville native continued his regular routine with 10 of his horses recording published workouts.

“It's the life of a trainer,” Cox said. “Horses like Monomoy Girl and Shedaresthedevil make this job all worth it.”

SWISS SKYDIVER – Trainer Kenny McPeek reported that “all is good” with Peter J. Callahan's Kentucky Oaks runner up Swiss Skydiver despite exiting the race with a few cuts on a front ankle. Next race plans are “undecided” for the multiple stakes winner as of Saturday morning, according to McPeek.

Following the race, the trainer made a case for bringing the stallion Daredevil, who was sold to Turkey late last year, back to the U.S., noting he sired both Swiss Skydiver and the Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil.

“They need to get him back here,” McPeek said. “He's a good stallion.”

GAMINE – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert reported that Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine “looked great” and was in good order the morning after finishing third as the favorite in the 146th edition of the Longines Kentucky Oaks.

Gamine set the pace in the 1 1/8-miles Oaks before being collared in the stretch by winner Shedaresthedevil and runner-up Swiss Skydiver. The loss marked the first time the daughter of Into Mischief had been beaten on the square in her five career starts as her only prior blemish was a loss via disqualification for a medication overage at Oaklawn Park.

SPEECH – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Madaket Stables and Heider Family Stables' Speech is scheduled to return to her Southern California base Monday morning according to trainer Michael McCarthy.

“She had a tough trip all the way around,” McCarthy said of Speech, who finished fourth. “She got bumped at the break by Gamine and hit at the 7 ½ pole by Donna Veloce and checked by Donna Veloce at the six-furlong pole. She never got a chance to run her race.”

TEMPERS RISING – Mark and Nancy Stanley's Temper's Rising was back in Dallas Stewart's Barn 34 Saturday morning and doing well following her fifth-place effort in Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

“I thought she ran a great race,” Stewart said.

BAYERNESS – Belladonna Racing's Bayerness was back at Trackside Louisville – Churchill Downs' training facility – Saturday morning. Her next race plans are still to be announced.

HOPEFUL GROWTH – Trainer Anthony Margotta reported via text message that his St. Elias Stable's Monmouth Oaks (GIII) winner Hopeful Growth, sixth in the Oaks, came out of the race in good shape and would be leaving to go back to her Monmouth Park base at 5 p.m. Saturday.

DONNA VELOCE – Kaleem Shah. Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Donna Veloce is scheduled to return to her Southern California base Monday morning following a disappointing run in Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

“She came back good,” said Carlos Santamaria, assistant to trainer Simon Callaghan. “We will try to get her as good as we can for the Breeders' Cup.

Making her first start in six months, Donna Veloce “had a lot of problems” in the race Santamaria said.

“Out of the gate, the five (Gamine) came in and hit the four (Speech) and she hit us,” Santamaria said. “She dropped the bit and ran off going into the first turn. He (jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.) took her to the outside to get her settled and going down the backside he could feel the field pushing him further outside. He ended up being wide all the way around.”

DREAM MARIE – Miracle's International Trading Inc.'s Dream Marie was scheduled to leave Churchill Downs Saturday morning following her ninth-place finish in the Oaks.

“She came out of the race OK,” trainer Matthew Williams said of Dream Marie, who trailed the field throughout. “We were hoping for a better result, but it was still a great experience.”

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Déjà Vu: Shedaresthedevil Springs 15-1 Upset For Cox, Geroux In Kentucky Oaks

Nothing is quite the same in 2020, and horse racing has been no exception. Churchill Downs' cavernous, nearly empty grandstands stood watch over Friday's Kentucky Oaks, delayed from the first Friday in May to September by the global coronavirus pandemic.

Fans may not have been present this year, but trainer Brad Cox must have felt a strong sense of déjà vu when he saddled Staton Flurry and Qatar Racing's Shedaresthedevil to post a 15-1 upset in the 3-year-old fillies' classic. Just one race prior, Cox had sent out his 2018 Kentucky Oaks winner Monomoy Girl to win the Grade 1 La Troienne.

“This is why you wake up every morning to get to win races like this,” Cox said. “This filly has been really impressive coming into the race and when she breezed with Monomoy Girl a couple weeks ago, we knew how well she was training. There were some tough fillies in the Oaks this year with Swiss Skydiver and Gamine. We are so thrilled to win a race like this, again, in our backyard. This has been a phenomenal day with Monomoy Girl winning the La Troienne then winning the Oaks with Shedaresthedevil. These are the days you dream of.”

Jockey Florent Geroux rode both champion Monomoy Girl and Shedaresthedevil to victory on Friday, and booted home a total of four winners on the Kentucky Oaks card.

“She had a great trip,” said Geroux. “She broke very sharp and I was able to stalk Gamine all the way. That was the plan, but sometimes plans don't always work out. Perfect plan today. The only question was whether or not I was going to be able to run her down. My filly ran an amazing race. It's been an amazing day.”

Shedaresthedevil came into the Oaks with wins in three of her five starts this year, but her long odds reflected the fact that she hadn't been successful against the division's top contenders. Her wins came in the G3 Indiana Oaks, an allowance race, and the G3 Honeybee, while she'd been beaten 13 1/4 lengths by Kentucky Oaks rival Swiss Skydiver in Oaklawn's G3 Fantasy Stakes back in May.

“We've taken the conservative route with this filly, kind of dodged the bullets,” Flurry explained. “We did that with the hope that we'd have a fresh horse for this.”

The strategy seems to have worked out, as Shedaresthedevil pulled away to win the Kentucky Oaks by 1 1/2 lengths. It was also the fastest Kentucky Oaks in history as Shedaresthedevil ran 1 1/8 miles over the fast main track in 1:48.28, besting Bird Town's 2003 time of 1:48.64.

A total of nine 3-year-old fillies lined up for the nine-furlong contest, including the supremely talented Gamine, who'd won her last two races by a combined total of over 35 lengths. Gamine went off at odds of 3-5, while G1 Alabama winner Swiss Skydiver, who'd also earned 40 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby by facing males in the G3 Blue Grass Stakes, was the second choice at 5-2.

As expected, the speedy Gamine went straight to the lead from post position five, and Swiss Skydiver pushed through from her position on the rail to try to be second. Shedaresthedevil broke to her left, and muscled her way over to keep pace pressure on Gamine through the early stages, keeping Swiss Skydiver boxed in on the inside.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez kept a tight hold on Gamine through a first quarter in 23.39 seconds, but Geroux also had Shedaresthedevil under a good hold just a length off the leader. Swiss Skydiver and Tyler Gaffalione were at the rail in third, while Donna Veloce tried to push her way into contention between rivals in fourth.

Just after the half-mile in :47.92, Velazquez left the rail open for a few strides and Gaffalione tried to send Swiss Skydiver on through. He didn't make the gap and Velazquez aimed Gamine back at the rail, causing Gaffalione to check and wait for the overland route along the outside.

That veteran move by Velazquez gave Geroux an opportunity with Shedaresthedevil, and he took full advantage, getting first run on Gamine around the far turn. Swiss Skydiver ended up swinging three-wide at the head of the lane, but Shedaresthedevil had already set her sights on the passing Gamine and hitting the wire first.

Shedaresthedevil dug in to put away Gamine by the three-sixteenths pole, then held of the late bid from Swiss Skydiver on her outside to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Gamine checked in third, while Speech got up to finish fourth. The remaining order of finish was: Tempers Rising, Hopeful Growth, Bayerness, Donna Veloce, and Dream Marie.

Trainer Ken McPeek wasn't displeased with the effort from runner-up Swiss Skydiver.

“She ran super,” McPeek said. “That other filly (Shedaresthedevil) has been training extremely well. I've been watching her. Tyler (Gaffalione) rode her good. That's horse racing. There's no guarantees. She's been training super. I actually wasn't as worried about Gamine as I was about another filly running a bang-up race. That's what happened.”

Meanwhile, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert had been hoping for a stronger return to two-turn racing for the super-talented Gamine.

“She hadn't gone long and we can always second guess ourselves,” Baffert lamented. “Maybe I should have run her longer or whatever. But the winner was tough, you have to give her credit.

“(Gamine) just didn't have it. Turning for home, she was in a good spot and she was late switching leads and she never does that. I don't know if she just got tired or whatever. But down the backside he couldn't have been any better, he was in the perfect spot. She just didn't have it there.”

Shedaresthedevil (center, maroon cap) out-finishes both Swiss Skydiver (left) and Gamine (right) to win the Kentucky Oaks

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Shedaresthedevil is out of the winning Congrats mare Starship Warpspeed. Initially sold for $100,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November sale, the filly returned and did not meet her reserve when bidding stopped at $20,000 at the following year's Keeneland September sale.

Entered in race training with Norm Casse, Shedaresthedevil won on debut and was the first winner for her freshman sire, Daredevil, in June of 2019 at Churchill Downs. Qatar Racing purchased an interest in the filly and she was sent to west coast trainer Simon Callaghan, for whom she ran third in the G2 Sorrento, fourth in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, and second in the Anoakia Stakes.

Sent back through the Keeneland November sale at the end of her juvenile season, Shedaresthedevil brought a final bid of $280,000 from Staton Flurry, and Qatar Racing stayed in for the ride. The filly was sent to trainer Brad Cox, and kicked off her sophomore year with a second-place finish to stablemate Bonny South in an allowance at Oaklawn Park. She added the pair of graded stakes wins to her resume over the course of 2020, and the Kentucky Oaks win improves her overall record to 5-2-2 from 10 starts for earnings of over $1.2 million.

“As bad as 2020's been for everybody, this makes it a little bit better, for us,” Flurry said from the winner's circle.

Co-owner Staton Flurry celebrates with friends after Shedaresthedevil brings home the Kentucky Oaks trophy

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A Devil of a Finish in the Oaks

Heavy favorite Gamine (Into Mischief)’s stiffest competition in Friday’s GI Kentucky Oaks figured to come from a daughter of Daredevil–just not 15-1 Shedaresthedevil, who led home a one-two for her exported stallion over second choice Swiss Skydiver. The Flurry Racing Stables LLC, Qatar Racing Limited and Big Aut Farms representative covered the nine furlongs at Churchill Downs in an Oaks record of 1:48.28 (Bird Town, 2003, 1:48.64). The winning margin was 1 1/2 lengths, with the same margin back to 7-10 Gamine in third. Trainer Brad Cox and rider Florent Geroux were teaming up for their second Oaks in three years, having won in 2018 with Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who one race earlier scored her 12th victory from 14 tries in the GI La Troienne S.

The eventual top three finishers all let the blocks quickly, with Shedaresthedevil breaking inward before latching on to Gamine’s right flank into the first turn. Swiss Skydiver, the GI Alabama S. romper, tucked in to draft in third along the fence. Shedaresadevil traveled strongly in the bridle chasing splits of :23.39 and :47.92, and was well out in the track as Gamine stayed off the fence, leaving room for Swiss Skydiver to squeeze through if she could or wanted to. Tyler Gaffalione on Swiss Skydiver just held his spot as John Velazquez and Gamine closed the hole, and Shedaresthedevil soon ranged up to take a run at the leader. Gamine seemed to respond to the challenge at first, and clung to a narrow advantage despite traveling on her incorrect lead, but the Daredevil duo continued to bear down on her and Shedaresthedevil overtook her with a furlong to race before stiff-arming Swiss Skydiver to the finish.

“She had a great trip,” said Geroux, who booted home five winners on the card, including three for Cox, and concluded a clean sweep of the late pick three aboard Diamond Oops (Lookin At Lucky) in the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint S. one race later. “She broke very sharp and I was able to stalk Gamine all the way. That was the plan, but sometimes plans don’t always work out. Perfect plan today. The only question was whether or not I was going to be able to run her down. My filly ran an amazing race. It’s been an amazing day.”

Friday, Churchill Downs
LONGINES KENTUCKY OAKS-GI, $1,250,000, Churchill Downs, 9-4, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:48.28, ft.
1–SHEDARESTHEDEVIL, 121, f, 3, by Daredevil
                1st Dam: Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats
                2nd Dam: Andria’s Forest, by Forestry
                3rd Dam: Andriana B., by Far North
   1ST GRADE I WIN. ($100,000 Wlg ’17 KEENOV; $20,000 RNA
Ylg ’18 KEESEP; $280,000 2yo ’19 KEENOV). O-Flurry Racing
Stables LLC, Qatar Racing Limited & Big Aut Farms; B-WinStar
Farm, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Florent Geroux. $744,000.
Lifetime Record: 10-5-2-2, $1,245,768. *1/2 to Mojovation
(Quality Road), GSP, $190,088. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Swiss Skydiver, 121, f, 3, by Daredevil
                1st Dam: Expo Gold, by Johannesburg
                2nd Dam: Clouds of Gold, by Strike the Gold
                3rd Dam: Cloudy Colors, by Personal Flag
($35,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). O-Peter J. Callahan; B-WinStar Farm,
LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $240,000.
3–Gamine, 121, f, 3, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Peggy Jane, by Kafwain
                2nd Dam: Seattle Splash, by Chief Seattle
                3rd Dam: Grand Splash, by Bucksplasher
‘TDN Rising Star’ ($220,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP; $1,800,000 2yo ’19
EASMAY). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Grace Thoroughbred
Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $120,000.
Margins: 1HF, 1HF, 5 3/4. Odds: 15.10, 2.50, 0.70.
Also Ran: Speech, Tempers Rising, Hopeful Growth, Bayerness, Donna Veloce, Dream Marie. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Shedaresthedevil debuted a decisive winner last June under the Twin Spires for Norm Casse and the Greathouse family’s Glencrest Farm, and was subsequently bought into by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani’s Qatar Racing and sent to Simon Callaghan in California. She was third in the GII Sorrento S. that August and fourth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf S. at Del Mar in early September before cutting back and returning to the main track to be a second in Santa Anita’s Anoakia S. Oct. 13. Offered as a supplemental entry during the horses of racing age portion of last year’s Keeneland November sale, she was the second topper of session 7 at $280,000, selling to Hot Springs, AR native Staton Flurry, whose family owns the parking lots across from Oaklawn Park.

With Flurry Racing Stables and Qatar Racing listed as owners, Shedaresthedevil returned as a member of the Brad Cox barn, and finished a close second to her new stablemate Bonny South (Munnings) in an Oaklawn optional claimer Feb. 15. Bonny South took the GII Fair Grounds Oaks next out, was second in the Alabama behind Swiss Skydiver and had been under consideration for the Oaks until recently.

Shedaresthedevil, meanwhile, annexed the Mar. 7 GIII Honeybee S. before a distant third behind Swiss Skydiver and talented Venetian Harbor (Munnings) in the GIII Fantasy S. May 1. She again hinted at her affinity for the Churchill strip with a six-length score in optional claiming company here June 5, and aired by five lengths in the GIII Indiana Oaks July 8 for a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure. That number did not match up particularly well on paper with the 110 Gamine had earned for her GI Acorn S. drubbing or the 102 Swiss Skydiver received for the Alabama.

“This is why you wake up every morning to get to win races like this,” said Cox, who himself had a three-win day at Churchill that also included the unveiling of new ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Travel Column (Frosted). “This filly has been really impressive coming into the race and when she breezed with Monomoy Girl a couple weeks ago (5f, 1:00.20, 5/46 Aug. 15), we knew how well she was training. These were some tough fillies in the Oaks this year with Swiss Skydiver and Gamine. We are so thrilled to win a race like the Oaks, again, in our backyard. This has been a phenomenal day with Monomoy Girl winning the La Troienne then winning the Oaks with Shedaresthedevil. These are the days you dream of.”

Flurry admitted in the post-race press conference that he was somewhat surprised by the result, but expected his filly to run well: “Everybody that asked, ‘Hey, how do you think you’re going to run? Are you going to win?’ I told everybody, if we run anything better than fourth, it’s a bonus. If we run worse than fourth, it’s a disappointment. So it’s a bonus.

“We’re tickled to death. Never dreamed six months ago we would be sitting here. We knew we had a nice filly after a couple of Oaklawn races. But to come in and beat Swiss Skydiver, who crushed us in the Fantasy at Oaklawn; and Gamine, who is phenomenal, maybe one of the best fillies we’ve seen in a long, long, long time–to come in and beat both of those, I don’t think I would have dreamed it.

“Like I said, anything better than fourth was a victory for us, just because we knew what we were running against. But at the same time, we knew we had a fresher horse coming in just because we have kind of dodged the tougher races.

“We went with the allowance race two races back and won it by double digits. And went into the Indiana Oaks and went in by six or seven. That was kind of the plan to come in with a fresher horse instead of knocking heads with the big ones early on.”

As for the beaten favorite, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said: “She just didn’t have it. Turning for home, she was in a good spot and she was late switching leads and she never does that. I don’t know if she just got tired or whatever. But down the backside he couldn’t have been any better, he was in the perfect spot. She just didn’t have it there.”

Conditioner Kenny McPeek said of Swiss Skydiver: “She ran super. That other filly has been training extremely well. I’ve been watching her. Tyler rode her good. That’s horse racing. There’s no guarantees. She’s been training super. I actually wasn’t as worried about Gamine as I was about another filly running a bang-up race. That’s what happened.”

Pedigree Notes:

Shedaresthedevil follows in Swiss Skydiver’s hoofsteps as the second highest-level winner for her sire. They are his only two graded winners. Daredevil, a brilliant 2-year-old who took the 2014 GI Champagne S. with a 107 Beyer in the slop before taking up stud duties at WinStar Farm, was sold to the Turkish Jockey Club ahead of the 2020 breeding season.

Shedaresthedevil is one of three graded/group winners out of mares by Congrats and becomes his first Grade I winner as a broodmare sire. The winner’s dam was one-for-eight on the track, breaking her maiden by almost 27 lengths in a rained-off Belmont $40,000 maiden claimer in 2011. Her 2-year-old filly by Outwork was a $150,000 FTKJUL yearling but has no published breezes since May 31. Starship Warpspeed produced a Speightster filly last year and an Exaggerator filly this March. She was bred back to Uncle Mo.

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