ARCADIA, Calif. – She Feels Pretty has grown up quickly for trainer Cherie DeVaux. A maiden race winner in her debut at Ellis Park on July 16, She Feels Pretty not only won her stakes debut in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 16, she smashed 12 rivals in the one-mile turf race, drawing off to win by 4 1/4 lengths. The win gave She Feels Pretty a fees-paid berth to Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita and the daunting role of winning the $1 million race for 2-year-old fillies at a mile as the likely favorite. “It was a tall task to go from a maiden to a Grade 1,” DeVaux said. “We weren’t pushing her to get here. She got here.” :: Breeders' Cup Shop: DRF Past Performances available now Owned by Lael Stables, She Feels Pretty is part of an intriguing field of 14 in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, a race that always draws a hefty field. Chances are the winner will have a favorable trip, and that other fillies will have troubled journeys. She Feels Pretty is one of seven North American stakes winners in the lineup along with Austere, Buchu, Dreamfyre, Flattery, Gala Brand, and Hard to Justify. Life’s an Audible, second to Hard to Justify in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes at the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting, and Buttercream Babe, second to Dreamfyre in the Grade 3 Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita, are domestic stakes-placed runners with good credentials. The foreign stakes winners include Carla’s Way, Content, Laulne, Les Pavots, and Porta Fortuna. Dreamfyre, unbeaten in three starts, is expected to lead. She won the Surfer Girl Stakes on Oct. 8 in her first start on turf when allowed to set a slow pace. A quicker pace is expected Friday. Since its inception in 2008, the race has been kind to American-based runners, who have won 12 of 15 runnings. An eight-year winning streak for American runners ended last year when famed Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien won at Keeneland with Meditate. This year, O’Brien surprised observers by pre-entering the Irish stakes winner Content and not Opera Singer, the dynamic winner of the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac in Paris on Oct. 1. Content, a winner of 2 of 6 starts, has won from the front and from off the pace. She was the 20-1 surprise winner of her last start, the Group 3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes at a mile on soft turf at the Curragh in Ireland on Oct. 7. The win clinched her participation in Friday’s race. O’Brien said in late October that he envisions Content running from off the pace. “We think this race will suit her well,” he said. “She will be ridden a little bit patiently.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Porta Fortuna, a winner of 4 of 6 starts, is the most accomplished foreign runner. Trained by Donnacha O’Brien, Aidan’s son, Porta Fortuna won her third group stakes in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at six furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse in Great Britain in her latest start on Sept. 30. This will be her first start at a mile, but the uphill finish at Newmarket provided a bit of a stamina test. The North American hopefuls have won at distances of a mile to 1 1/16 miles. Some have significant experience, such as Buchu, the exciting winner of the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 6 in her fifth start. Others, such as Austere, Dreamfyre, Flattery, Gala Brand, and Hard to Justify, have had two or three starts. The lack of experience is not a concern for Chad Brown, who starts Hard to Justify. Brown has won this race a record five times. All of those fillies had their third starts in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Hard to Justify, owned by Wise Racing, overcame a slow start, a bump, traffic issues, and a wide trip to win her debut by a head in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Saratoga on July 23. “She had no right to win,” Brown said. “She got stopped or she should have won by daylight.” Hard to Justify had a smoother trip in the Miss Grillo, closing from second of 11 to win by a half-length over Life’s an Audible. Flavien Prat rode Hard to Justify in both races. “I like the way she stalked the pace,” Brown said. “Flavien was pleased with the gate speed she showed. She’s always trained like one of our better 2-year-old turf fillies.” Life’s an Audible beat maidens in her turf debut at 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 2, closing from seventh of 10 to win by 1 1/4 lengths. In the Miss Grillo, she closed from third in the final furlong. “I was pretty happy with the way she finished,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. Life’s an Audible was close to a slow pace in the Miss Grillo, and may be farther back in the Juvenile Fillies Turf if a faster pace develops. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2023: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division “She fits with this group,” Pletcher said. “It will be an even race in which the winner gets the best trip.” Buchu has shown similar versatile form. She won a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on Sept. 23 in her fourth start, closing from 1 1/2 lengths off the pace before pulling clear by 4 3/4 lengths. Buchu broke from post 2 in a field of 12 in that race. In the Jessamine, she rallied from last of 11 in the final three furlongs to win by 3 3/4 lengths after starting from post 10. “She has the ability to lay close like she did when she broke her maiden,” trainer Philip Bauer said. “She’s there if you need her and I think she has the ability to come with a good quarter-mile run. “Having a win at Keeneland from the outside and from the two-hole at Churchill Downs, she’s won both ways. I think she’s gotten an education in her starts. It’s fun to watch the 2-year-olds turn pro. She’s getting better with every start.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.