Second Gr.1 win for Shedaresthedevil

The Qatar Racing colours were carried to G+G19rade 1 success on Friday when Shedaresthedevil won her second race at the highest level in the La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Last year's Indian and Kentucky Oaks heroine Shedaresthedevil had returned with a win in the Grade 2 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn park in mid-March, and she followed up in the seven-runner La Troienne.

Shedaresthedevil made the running and, in her customary style, dug deep to hold off Envoutante by a length, with two lengths back to Finite in third. It was another excellent ride from Florent Geroux on the Brad Cox-trained winner.

Shedaresthedevil, by Daredevil, has now won seven of her 13 starts, including five Stakes races. She is also three from three at Churchill Downs.

Florent Geroux said: ‚"She loves to race at Churchill; she showed it again today. 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.‚"

Brad Cox added: ‚"This is huge. 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 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 1 winner at 4. We'll target the Breeders' Cup Distaff and work our way back from that. There are some obvious races in New York and one at Del Mar we are thinking about.‚"