The New York Stakes of 2025 presents opportunities for trainer H. Graham Motion to win this Grade I turf race for fillies and mares once again. Standing in their way at Saratoga on Friday, June 6, however, is strong fancy She Feels Pretty.
While the NYRA finishes renovation work at Belmont Park, this contest again takes place Upstate. Rather than the traditional 2,000m distance, a slightly shorter trip on the Saratoga turf track reduces this to 1,900m.
Cherie DeVaux’s track record-breaking Modesty Stakes heroine She Feels Pretty heads Morning Line odds from Belmont Stakes betting sites as a hot favourite. Placed in the Lake Placid and beaten just a neck on her prior visit to Saratoga Springs, she bids to go one better than last summer.
On the bare Churchill Downs form, and when bettors consider She Feels Pretty now meets Motion’s Gimme A Nother on better terms, she should win again. Bursting onto the scene in the fall of 2023 when landing the Natalma Stakes up at Woodbine in Canada, the four-year-old Karakonite filly has since won a couple of Grade Is at the end of last season.
Her Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup success around Keeneland and American Oaks triumph on Santa Anita’s more testing hillside turf track clearly make She Feels Pretty the one to beat. Motion has two bullets to fire at the favorite, though, both off level weights.
Bellezza Bidding for Emotional Success in New York Stakes 2025
Stamina is abundant in the field, so She Feels Pretty will need all her speed to justify her status as market leader. Motion also runs Beach Bomb against her, a South African import to his barn.
Using the Northern Hemisphere ageing system for horses, she’s a five-year-old now that won over a mile and 1,800m during the winter of 2023-24. Beach Bomb has since prove she stays a mile-and-a-half for Motion, so might find this on the sharp side.
Gimme A Nother also has a similar background to her barn buddy. Brought across the Atlantic from South Africa, she landed Grade I events at a mile and 1,800m. Gimme A Nother has that disadvantage of She Feels Pretty receiving a 5lb pull at the weights from Churchill Downs, which makes her task more difficult.
Miguel Clement’s late father Christophe, meanwhile, had four previous victories in this race. A rare form of eye cancer resulted in the senior Clement passing away aged just 59 in May.
Success with the barn’s Irish import Bellezza in the New York Stakes of 2025 would thus be poignant. A four-year-old Siyouni filly, who finished second in the Naas Oaks Trial when trained by Ger Lyons, she went one better in the Diamond Stakes at Dundalk before crossing the Atlantic.
Bellezza won her American debut when defeating Beach Bomb over 2,200m in Grade III company around Aqueduct. The pair meet again off the same terms now, so she should confirm form if reproducing that run.
Forever After All Another Down in Distance
Also in the eight-runner field is Brendan Walsh’s six-year-old Forever After All. She has a couple of mile-and-a-half Grade III wins on her resume from recent outings, including when romping home at Keeneland by nine lengths in the spring.
Forever After All is clearly above that level over further. As with many other hopefuls in the New York Stakes of 2025, it is a question of her effectiveness down in trip.
Based on her runs last season, Forever After All just doesn’t have the speed to pose much threat to She Feels Pretty. Bar those, the Motion duo and Bellezza, there are three longshots in the line-up.
Edict, just like last year’s winner Didia, is a South American import. Placed in the Beaugay Stakes on her latest start for the David Donk barn, it’s tough assessing her prior form and how it equates across the Equator.
Immensitude, who often makes the show in her runs for Bill Mott and Wathnan Racing, last won on a softer surface when still trained in France. Faster turf going in America hasn’t produced a win yet for this five-year-old daughter of Lawman.
Todd Pletcher also has a French import completing the field in Miwa. She’s a longshot, having only won a turf maiden and All-Weather surface handicap when trained in Europe.
New York Stakes 2025 Post Positions Draw & Morning Line Odds
- Forever After All (120lbs) – 10-1
- Immensitude (118lbs) – 20-1
- Gimme A Nother (124lbs) – 7-2
- Miwa (118lbs) – 30-1
- Edict (118lbs) – 15-1
- Bellezza (120lbs) – 8-1
- Beach Bomb (124lbs) – 10-1
- She Feels Pretty (124lbs) – 3-5 fav
Our Handicapper’s Win Place Show Bets for the New York Stakes 2025
Win: She Feels Pretty
Place: Bellezza (ATB)
Show: Gimme A Nother
WATCH: Didia Delivers in New York Stakes at Saratoga
