She Be Smooth Rallies Last to Win Davona Dale, Earns 50 Oaks

She Be Smooth’s six-length Davona Dale romp at Gulfstream Park instantly vaulted the Calumet Farm homebred into early Kentucky Oaks contention, picking up 50 qualifying points and tying her for the second-most points on the leaderboard. The 3-year-old filly by Lexitonian closed from last of seven to win the Grade 2 one-turn mile in 1:37.78 under Flavien Prat on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.

Prat saved ground early while Omaha Bay set a quick opening quarter in :23.48 and the half went in :46.15, with My Miss Mo surging up the rail into contention at the turn. With about a quarter-mile to run She Be Smooth was last and hugged the rail around the far turn, then was angled out by Prat and swept past a pair of dueling leaders to open up and finish six lengths clear. TDN noted she “moved four wide to set up her winning stretch move to complete the mile in 1:37.78” and that she “raced well out of the range of the cameraman for the opening 5 1/2 furlongs” before entering the picture.

The victory was a rapid ascent: Davona Dale was just She Be Smooth’s second career start after a 2 1/2-length maiden score at Gulfstream on Jan. 23, 2026, and it produced her first black-type and first graded stakes win. TDN lists her record after the Davona Dale as 2-2-0-0 with earnings of $162,320. She Be Smooth is a homebred for Calumet Farm, out of GISW Seattle Smooth and sired by second-crop stallion Lexitonian; Alan Carasso and BloodHorse identified her as the first graded stakes winner for Lexitonian, who stands at Calumet for $7,500 and sired 2025 stakes winners Revera, Fire and Wine, and Ritzaphena.

Todd A. Pletcher, trainer of the winner, framed the race as part of a targeted Oaks plan and praised the ride. “She's been very impressive in both of her starts here. She seems to be steadily improving. I think the more distance the better for her. We thought we might get a good pace setup. I told Flavien to be patient with her, that she'd deliver a good late run. He gave her a beautiful ride. He was able to save ground around the turn and then angle out at the top of the stretch and she finished really nicely.” The win marked Pletcher’s fourth Davona Dale victory, adding to Wait a While (2006), R Heat Lightning (2011) and Onlyforyou (2014).

Wagering and purse details came with some contemporaneous variance in reporting. Multiple outlets and a FanDuel Racing tweet listed the race as a $225,000 Davona Dale, while the TDN chart block and BloodHorse listed the race at $205,000 and showed a winner’s share of $121,520; She Be Smooth paid $13.60 to win and went off as the 5.80-1 third choice, with On Time Girl sent off as the 4-5 favorite and finishing no closer than third.

The Davona Dale was the sixth of nine stakes on a Gulfstream card worth $2.025 million in purses and awarded 105 total Kentucky Oaks points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale. With 50 points now secured and Pletcher signaling the Oaks as the objective, connections will evaluate She Be Smooth’s condition and map a path to the May 1 Kentucky Oaks as they decide her next start.