Trainer Cherie DeVaux sent out five horses across four stakes this weekend and enjoyed tremendous success on Friday, capturing both the Clarksville Handicap with Love and Money at Horseshoe Indianapolis and the Manila (G3) with More Than Looks at Belmont Park.
A solid weekend for the conditioner also included third-place finishes on Saturday with Vahva in the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont and with Cagliostro in the Indiana Derby (G3). Her lone off-the-board stakes starter was Bout Time in the Clarksville Handicap.
“All you can hope when you're running in all these stakes races is that they all show up and run their race and they all did,” DeVaux said.
Victory Racing Partners' More Than Looks made the grade with a last-to-first score under Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the one-mile Widener turf test for sophomores at Belmont.
“He keeps progressing in each start and with time — both physically and mentally,” DeVaux said. “He's shown that he has ability and just needs to put it all together and he did that in the Manila.”
More Than Looks, who boasts a record of 5-3-1-0, broke slowly in the Manila but benefitted from swift fractons set by Talk of the Nation.
“He's done that before. He's a little quirky in the gate and just doesn't break very sharp,” DeVaux said. “It's helped him because he will get headstrong, so a belated break forces him to settle at the back of the pack.”
More Than Looks showed a similar rallying effort when second in a one-mile Keeneland turf allowance in April captured by Turf King, who went on to win the Grade 3 Marine at Woodbine Racetrack.
DeVaux said More Than Looks could now come under consideration for the $500,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (G2) on August 4 at Saratoga Race Course or the one-mile $500,000 Secretariat (G2) on August 12 at Colonial Downs.
“The Hall of Fame is something we'd spoken about after he ran at Keeneland,” DeVaux said. “There's also the Secretariat. There's a couple different options for him, we'll just have to see how he comes out of it.”
More Than Looks is out of the stakes-winning Harlan's Holiday mare Ladies' Privilege, who is a full-sister to multiple graded-stakes winner Takeover Target – winner of the 2015 Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. His third dam, Critical Crew, produced multiple Grade 1-winning New York-bred Critical Eye.
DeVaux could potentially have two starters in the Hall of Fame with West Point Thoroughbreds and David Ingordo's Northern Invader, a sophomore son of Collected, who graduated with an impressive eight-length score on July 2 here traveling one-mile over the Widener turf against older horses in his grass debut.
“I have to speak with both sets of clients and see how both horses are doing, how they come out of their races and how they move forward,” DeVaux said. “If one of them needs more time, we'll give them more time. We just try to look after them individually and see how they're training to give them both their best shot for each set of clients.”
The Ontario-bred colt, who made his first two starts on dirt, is also eligible for the $1-million King's Plate, a 10-furlong Tapeta test restricted to Canadian-bred 3-year-olds on August 20 at Woodbine Racetrack.
“He was running on dirt and he just ran so well on the turf that going to the Tapeta and adding more distance is two unknowns for him. That would be a lot of change after such an impressive race on the turf,” DeVaux said. “If I thought he could win the King's Plate, that would be a really prestigious race for him. But if he doesn't run well or doesn't take to the surface, it's an unknown and we're trying to develop our horses for the long term and not just for one race.”
Bred in Ontario by Anderson Farms Ont. Inc. and Peter A. Berglar Racing Interests, the $310,000 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase is out of the winning Arch mare Androeah, who is a full sister to Grade 1-winner Archarcharch.
Vahva, a Gun Runner bay, was slated to be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione in the Victory Ride, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies. But when Gaffalione was injured after hitting his hip in the starting gate earlier on the card, Velazquez picked up the assignment and guided Vahva to a third-place finish when four lengths back of the freewheeling and undefeated Maple Leaf Mel.
DeVaux said Vahva will target the seven-furlong $500,000 Test (G1) on August 5 at the Spa.
“She ran really well. The pace didn't develop like we thought we'd see on paper,” DeVaux said. “She made a nice closing run and she did keep coming. She was left with a lot to do. She can handle the distance it seems to go a little farther, so we'll put her in consideration for the Test. But we'll have to see how she comes out of it.”
Gaffalione's agent, Matt Muzikar, reported Sunday that Gaffalione was in good order and will be ready to ride on Opening Day Thursday at Saratoga.
DeVaux credited Velazquez for a solid effort on short notice while piloting the filly for the first time.
“Johnny did a really good job with not knowing much about her,” DeVaux said. “Tyler and I had spoken at length a few times about this filly and he was really excited to ride her. It was just unfortunate he was injured.”
Lael Stables' Love and Money, a 5-year-old More Than Ready mare, hopped at the break but rallied impressively down the lane under Joseph Ramos to post a head score over Goin' Good in the five-furlong Clarksville Handicap.
“Usually, she doesn't break sharp but she just takes the rider to the front,” DeVaux said. “For the last two years since we acquired her, we've tried to break her of that habit to no avail, just to try and get her to settle so that she's not so hard on herself and one dimensional.”
DeVaux said she instructed Ramos not to fight with the mare and to try and settle.
“She found herself at the back of the pack and made that really impressive run,” DeVaux said. “I was happy to see a different dimension to her. She broke like she normally does and just settled. It was refreshing to see her run like that.”
DeVaux said she has no immediate targets for Love and Money, who sports a ledger of 10-4-2-0 for purse earnings of $220,430.
Cagliostro, a sophomore son of Upstart, was full of run at the top of the lane under Edgar Morales but behind a wall of horses in the 1 1/16-mile Indiana Derby. He attempted to surge through a hole between Verifying and Transect in the stretch run but checked and had to re-rally and settled for third just 1 3/4-lengths back of the victorious Verifying, who nosed out Raise Cain.
“He altered course on more than one occasion and I'd like to have seen him make one run,” DeVaux said. “He's a big horse with a big stride, so when he gets stopped like that it's hard for him to regain his momentum.”
DeVaux said Cagliostro, who was eighth in the Louisiana Derby (G2) in March, could try the one-mile Ellis Park Derby on August 13.
“He exited that race in good shape,” DeVaux said. “We tried to stretch him out to a mile and three-sixteenths in the Louisiana Derby and that seems to be a bit too far for him, so considering something like the Travers probably isn't in his future.”
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