Tag: cherie devaux

Lael, DeVaux Sittin’ ‘Pretty’ For Breeders’ Cup Following Natalma

Lael Stables' She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) came with a stinging rally down the center of the E. P. Taylor turf course to punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with an impressive victory in Saturday's GI Johnnie Walker Natalma S. at Woodbine. It marks the first elite-level scorer for the barn of Cherie DeVaux.

Sent off at odds of 8-1 while stretching out to the mile off a first-up graduation sprinting over the Ellis Park turf course July 16, the $240,000 Keeneland September acquisition was bumped at the break from an outside barrier and settled just behind midfield and in the slipstream of the well-backed Ozara (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), from the Summer S.-winning barn of Christophe Clement. Always traveling sweetly with that cover as Golden Canary (Medaglia d'Oro) continued to show the way through a half in :47.01, She Feels Pretty was up into fifth and under a nice John Velazquez hold at the three-eighths. Pulled off heels in upper stretch, She Feels Pretty descended on the leaders with about a furlong to travel and shot clear to score by daylight. The maiden Simply in Front (Summer Front) ran on for second ahead of a slow-starting and favored Dazzling Star (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}) in third. The final time was some 0.36 seconds faster than the Summer S. two races prior.

“I was very confident, I got to say she was feeling very confident,” said Velazquez, winning his first Natalma. “I made sure I put her in a good position behind Dylan Davis [rider of Ozara], a horse that could take me a little way down. When we turned for home, I moved her to the clear and her ears went up and I said, 'Wow, look at this.' I went after her and she instantly responded. The way she did it was very impressive.”

Pedigree Notes:

She Feels Pretty is the 12th worldwide stakes winner, seventh graded winner and second top-level scorer for Karakontie, upset winner of the 2014 GI Breeders' Cup Mile whose lone starter on championship weekend, Spanish Loveaffair, was sixth in the 2020 Juvenile Fillies Turf. She Feels Pretty is the 161st worldwide SW, 74th GSW and 20th Grade I/Group 1 winner out of a daughter of the late, great More Than Ready, and the first by a sire descending from an immediate Storm Cat line.

Arthur Hancock's Stone Farm raised and sold She Feels Pretty to the second Book 4 session of last year's Keeneland September Sale, where she caught the eye of Roy and Gretchen Jackson's high-class operation. Payson Stud acquired dam Summer Sweet for $550,000 as an early 2-year-old from the partial dispersal of the Estate of Sarah Leigh at Keeneland January in 2016, the most expensive horse of racing age during the sale. Payson also gave a sales-topping $700,000 for Summer Sweet's Grade I-placed half-sister Summer Solo (Arch), whose daughter Solo Album (Curlin) won this year's GIII Selene S. over the local synthetic track.

The filly's second dam was a listed winner in France for the late Gerald Leigh and Jonathan Pease–who coincidentally trained Karakontie for the Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings–and her other winners included SW Summer Breezing (Langfuhr) and Adirondack Summer (Thunder Gulch). This is also the family of Gerald Leigh's dual French Group 1 winner Act One (GB) (In the Wings {GB}).

The yearling relation to She Feels Pretty, a colt by Good Magic, was purchased for $600,000 by Boardshorts from the Stone Farm draft at Keeneland September this past Thursday. Summer Sweet foaled an American Pharoah filly Apr. 19 and was bred back to Olympiad.

Saturday, Woodbine
JOHNNIE WALKER NATALMA S.-GI, C$503,500, Woodbine, 9-16, 2yo, f, 1mT, 1:35.34, gd.
1–SHE FEELS PRETTY, 121, f, 2, by Karakontie (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Summer Sweet, by More Than Ready
                2nd Dam: Summer Solstice (Ire), by Caerleon
                3rd Dam: Summer Sonnet (GB), by Baillamont
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. ($240,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Lael Stables; B-Payson Stud
Inc (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-John R. Velazquez. C$300,000.
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $262,379. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Simply in Front, 121, f, 2, by Summer Front
                1st Dam: Complicated, by Blame
                2nd Dam: Consequence, by El Prado (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Educated Risk, by Mr. Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. ($115,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Colebrook Farms;
B-William Harrigan & Mike Pietrangelo (KY); T-Patrick Dixon.
C$100,000.
3–Dazzling Star (GB), 121, f, 2, by Blue Point (Ire)
                1st Dam: Dancing Sands (Ire) (SW-Ger, GSP-Ity, GSP-Fr,
                                 GSP-Tur, $128,976), by Dubawi (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Past the Post, by Danzig
                3rd Dam: Qui Royalty, by Native Royalty
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK
TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Charles Appleby. C$50,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, 2HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 8.00, 29.65, 1.40.
Also Ran: Ozara (Ire), Golden Canary, Ready to Jam, Rhapsody, Bolt Enoree, Dea Matrona (Fr), She's Fire, Ms. Tart, Brocknardini, Dancing Duchess. Scratched: Airosa, Go With Gusto.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Saturday’s Racing Insights: $1.25M Constitution Colt Set For Juvenile Debut At Del Mar

3rd-DMR, $82K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 5:30 p.m.
As the summer winds down, there is still more than enough time for juvenile first timers to make their debut. At Del Mar, $1.25-million Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sale buy MC VAY (Constitution) is set for his inaugural trip. Out of Dothraki Sea (Union Rags), who counts both GISW Dixie Chatter (Dixie Union) and GSW Rumor (Indian Charlie) as half-siblings, the dark bay colt is trained by John Shirreffs and will be ridden by Mike Smith.

Also entered is $250,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale grad and $675,000 OBS April Sale purchase Arthur (Uncle Mo). Second dam SW Star of Goshen (Lord At War), who is a half-sister to MGSW Powis Castle (Rare Brick), is responsible for GI Santa Anita Derby champ and runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker). Trained by Keith Desormeaux, Arthur will be guided by Kent Desormeux. TJCIS PPS

6th-SAR, $136K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 3:26 p.m.
Shifting to the Saratoga grass, Zverev (Oscar Performance) makes his first start after bringing $170,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale before fetching $330,000 at this year's OBS April Sale. The Cherie DeVaux trainee with Ricardo Santana up, is out of MGISW Balance (Thunder Gulch), who is a half-sister to Horse of the Year Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) and SW Where's Bailey (Aljabr)–dam to two-time GIII Yellow Ribbon H. heroine She's Not Here (Street Cry {Ire}) and her son, GSP Talk of the Nation (Quality Road).

Trained by Chad Brown and with Manny Franco in the irons, another interesting entrant here is $220,000 Keeneland September Sale graduate Walley World (More Than Ready). His dam Forced Family Fun (Uncle Mo), a half-sister to MGSP Cat Burglar (Unbridled's Song), were both produced by Be My Prospect (Forest Wildcat)–half-sister to MGSP Away (Dixieland Band), the dam of MGSW Eight Belles (Unbridled's Song). TJCIS PPS

7th-SAR, $136K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 4:00 p.m.
Over on the Spa main, Justifiably So (Justify), a $375,000 Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sale purchase, is related to race six's Walley World in that he is out of that runner's second dam, Be My Prospect. The juvenile debuts for Nick Zito with Ricardo Santana at the controls.

Trainer Bill Mott and Junior Alvarado team with Godolphin's well-bred Jefferson Street (Street Sense). Out of an extended female family which includes first-crop sire MGISP Solomini (Curlin), the dark bay colt's dam Apiary (Bernardini) is a full-sister to GIII Go For Wand S. hero Indulgent and a half-sister to MGISW Frosted (Tapit). All are out of MGSW Fast Cookie (Deputy Minister), who is a half to Champion 2-year-old colt Midshipman (Unbridled's Song). TJCIS PPS

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Gun Runner’s Vahva Gets It Done in Charles Town Oaks

Cherie DeVaux trainee Vahva (f, 3, Gun Runner–Holiday Soiree, by Harlan's Holiday) shipped in to Charles Town off a third in Belmont's July 8 GIII Victory Ride S. to capture Friday night's 15th running of the $750,000 GIII Charles Town Oaks, billed as the richest sprint race for sophomore fillies in North America. Off at 7-5, Vahva raced just behind the leaders while 96-1 Late Frost (Frosted) set early fractions of :23.37 and :46.82 as Undervalued Asset (Speightstown) pressured her from the outside. The two pacesetters pulled well clear of the field on the final turn with just Vahva threatening behind in third. Vahva joined the pacesetting party about a furlong from home and the three lined up across the track inside the final sixteenth. The frontrunners held tough, but Vahva was moving best of all and had one last, late gear. She put 1 1/4 lengths on the pair right before the wire. Undervalued Asset outnosed Late Frost on the line for second. The winner's final time for the seven furlongs was 1:25.01.

A $280,000 Keeneland September yearling who hammered in 2021 to BDR IV and West Point, Vahva has jumped into the deep end a number of times. She faced 'TDN Rising Star' and eventual GI Kentucky Oaks/Acorn/Test winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) when third in her stakes debut last December in the Untapable S. at Fair Grounds and again when fourth behind that one in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. in February at the same track. A second in a Keeneland allowance, a win in a Churchill allowance on Kentucky Oaks Day, and a third behind the late Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) in the aforementioned Victory Ride led Vahva to Charles Town and this initial graded win.

Pedigree Notes:

Vahva is the 15th graded winner and 21st overall black-type winner for Gun Runner, currently a top five North American leading general sire–quite an accomplishment for a young stallion with only his third crop of 2-year-olds now reaching the track. Gun Runner, who earned the Horse of the Year title in 2017, stands at Three Chimneys. Vahva is Gun Runner's only stakes winner out of a daughter of the late Harlan's Holiday, who died a decade ago at age 14 at Argentina's Haras Firmamento and has 53 black-type winners as a broodmare sire.

The winner's dam, Holiday Soiree, was runner-up in the 2012 edition of this race. She was most recently sold at the 2021 Keeneland November sale to Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds for $160,000. The mare produced a City of Light filly the next year, now a yearling, and a filly by Nyquist on Mar. 10. She was bred back to City of Light for next term.

.Friday, Charles Town
CHARLES TOWN OAKS-GIII, $750,000, Charles Town, 8-25, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:25.01, wf.
1–VAHVA, 118, f, 3, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Holiday Soiree (SW & GISP, $405,642),
                                by Harlan's Holiday
                2nd Dam: Try to Remember, by Include
                3rd Dam: Casanova Striker, by Smart Strike
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($280,000
Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Belladonna Racing, LLC, Edward J. Hudson,
Jr., West Point Thoroughbreds, LBD Stable LLC, Nice Guys
Stables, Manganaro Bloodstock, Runnels Racing, Steve
Hornstock and Twin Brook Stables; B-Woodford
Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-John R.
Velazquez. $432,000. Lifetime Record: 9-3-2-2, $662,235.
*1/2 to Signal From Noise (Arrogate), SP, $159,190.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Undervalued Asset, 118, f, 3, Speightstown–Hard Headed
Temper, by Hard Spun. ($150,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV).
O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Speightstown Syndicate & Cloyce C.
Clark, Jr. (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $144,000.
3–Late Frost, 120, f, 3, Frosted–La La's Cookin, by Harlan's
Holiday. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Runnymoore Racing,
LLC; B-Gregory and Caroline Bentley Breeders (PA); T-Michael
Matz. $72,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, NO, 6 3/4. Odds: 1.40, 3.30, 96.40.
Also Ran: Metaphysical, Lily Poo, Imonra, Interpolate, Hoosier Philly, Opus Forty Two, Chismosa. Scratched: Perfect Wish, Twice as Sweet.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Shotgun Hottie to Target 2024 Campaign

Shotgun Hottie (Gun Runner), last-out winner of the GIII Molly Pitcher S., will get the rest of the year off and be prepared for her 5-year-old campaign in 2024.

“After talking to Shotgun Hottie's trainer, Cherie DeVaux, and my partner Omar Aldabbagh, we have decided the best move for Shotgun Hottie's career will be to give her some time off to get ready for what we expect to be a monumental racing campaign next year,” said co-owner Jeff Ganje said. “Shotgun Hottie has proven she can compete with the best fillies and mares in the country, so we will target the most competitive Grade I stakes races in the country, hopefully culminating with next year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.”

Shotgun Hottie, winner of last year's Ruthless S., was second in the 2022 GIII Delaware Oaks and GIII Monmouth Oaks. She won this year's Lady's Secret S. before her victory in the July 22 Molly Pitcher.

Following her win in the Molly Pitcher, Ganje announced that Limestone Farm Bourbon would be partnering on the filly.

“As professional athletes, we all need time to rest. I'm happy to see Shotgun Hottie will be getting a little well-deserved rest. She has the heart of a champion and will be back better than ever next year,” said former Heisman Trophy finalist and co-owner of Limestone Farm Bourbon Tim Couch.

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