Fastest Kentucky Oaks ever ends with a stunning upset

The Kentucky Oaks was supposed to be a two-horse race at Churchill Downs on Friday afternoon.

Florent Geroux and his filly, Shedaresthedevil, had other ideas.

Shedaresthedevil, a 20-1 shot on the morning line trained by Brad Cox, stalked the even-money favorite Gamine, trained by Bob Baffert throughout the race, then overtook her in the stretch. Swiss Skydiver, the 8-5 second choice trained by Lexington’s Kenny McPeek, ran third most of the way along the rail, swung out wide late and engaged with Shedaresthedevil and Gamine.

But it was Geroux, who previously won the $1.25 million Oaks aboard Monomoy Girl two years ago, who got his charge to the finish line first, beating out second-place Swiss Skydiver by 1 1/2 lengths with a fast-fading Gamine in third.

Shedaresthedevil’s winning time of 1:48.28 was the fastest in the 146-year history of the Kentucky Oaks, which was run for the first time without the general public in attendance because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“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.”

Geroux will take another shot at glory on Saturday, when he rides Thousand Words in the Kentucky Derby, which will also be run in front of an empty grandstand.

Shedaresthedevil’s winning time of 1:48.28 bested the previous record of 1:48.64 set by Bird Town in 2003 for the 1 1/8-mile race.

Shedaresthedevil was bred by WinStar Farm in Versailles and is owned by Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing Limited and Big Aut Farms.

The complete order of finish behind Shedaresthedevil was Swiss Skydiver, Gamine, Speech, Tempers Rising, Hopeful Growth, Bayerness, Donna Veloce and Dream Marie.

Shedaresthedevil paid $32.20 to win, $8.40 to place and $3.80 to show. Swiss Skydiver delivered $3.80 and $2.60. Gamine was worth $2.40 to show.

This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 6:04 PM.