3 year old pony Cagliostro runners in Saturday’s $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3) at Indianapolis horseshoenamed after Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, the 18th-century Italian explorer, magician and occultist who captivated the Parisian elite until the French Revolution ended the party.
Coach Cherie DeVaux is hoping that in the span of about 105 seconds late Saturday afternoon, Cagliostro will turn from first-place winner to graded bet winner that can compete with 3-year-olds. top for the rest of the year. No magic or mysticism is required, although Cagliostro may have to run the best race of his life to beat 8-5 Verification favorites in a 1 1/16 mile bet.
“He’s going to be very hard to beat,” DeVaux said. “But Cagliostro has been training really well, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he runs here.”
With the exception of finishing eighth in the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby (G2), Cagliostro improved every race. At 8-1 in the morning, he could be a good player in the predicted eight-zone, with Georgie W tipped to score. Edgar Morales will be boarding the Cagliostro for the first time.
“We gave him the chance to run in the Louisiana Derby,” DeVaux said. “At the beginning of the stretch, he was running and it looked like he could be right there. We gave him a shot to try to get into the Kentucky Derby (G1), but I think it’s a bit far. He’s a big horse, and after the Louisiana Derby he developed a bit more and we gave him some time.”
DeVaux put Cagliostro back in the one-mile subsidy race on June 3 at Churchill Downsa good ending to lose just one head to the prospect Scotland .
“He seems to be more effective on two turns, but maybe not two turns at longer range,” she said. “A mile and a sixteenth seems perfect.”
DeVaux, in his sixth year as a trainer after serving as Chad Brown’s assistant, began his career developing young calves so that they would accumulate residual value in the form of mares.
“Last year was the first year that my client and I thought it was a good time to dip our toes in the ponies, trying to spend a significant amount of money on ponies,” she says.
Those clients included a partnership headed by her husband, prominent blood agent David Ingordo. They set a budget and bought a pair of ponies, including a Cagliostro for $385,000 in April at the Ocala Breeders 2-Year-In-Practice Puppy Fair. The start pony races named Ingordo, Talla Racing, James D. Spry, West Point Thoroughbred and Nice Guys Stables.
DeVaux said: “When we saw Cagliostro, he was a very handsome guy. “He had a nice breeze, not a ‘wow’: 09.4 (seconds for the eighth mile), with a good gallop. He was the first we bought. He was. Florida, and that’s probably one reason he didn’t go for an exorbitant amount of money. But he’s a nice, athletic guy.”
Cagliostro completed his sixth sprint on his debut at Racecourse Saratoga last summer. “He’s been training well, but you can tell mentally it’s going to take him a while to regroup,” DeVaux said. “He got his shin hit before the race in Keeneland, so we had to scratch him and regroup from there.”
Almost five months on, Cagiostro rallied to easily win the first race at Fair Grounds Racecourse & Slots at 1 1/16 miles on his second start. He took a one-second lead by neck in an allowance race at the same distance to earn a spot in the Louisiana Derby.
“The thing about him is that he is quite immature,” DeVaux said. “It’s something that we have to keep a close eye on. He can be quite cheeky here and there about everything. He is maturing both physically and mentally, and that is reflected in the city. his race record.”
A win on Saturday would be a big win not only for Cagliostro but also for his coach. Cagliostro will be DeVaux’s second graded bet winner, after Gam .’s Mission 3rd place winner in 2021 and 2022.
“When you can win a graded bet with a pony, it really blows people away,” she said. “My team is young. You have to prove yourself; nothing has been given to any of us. Much of my success so far has been with chubby kids. That’s a big deal. , those races (3 years old) …. To get a win like that, it’s special to just get it. But when you develop your career, people will notice.”
DeVaux has topped her previous count of every season she’s coached, even during the COVID era. With 28 wins and $1.85 million in wins in 2023, she’s on track to surpass last year’s 35 wins and $2.69 million.
“There have been challenges, but the one aspect that I am most proud of is that our stable has a real group of staff and core members,” said DeVaux, who trains about 80 horses in Kentucky and New. excellence has grown with us”. York. “It’s been really exciting and I’m proud of the way things have turned out. We really try to keep in mind that we have to work hard every day. And no matter how big we are, we are. must treat each horse as an individual and work together.
“We’re about to enter our sixth year. If you asked me even three years ago if we were here today, I might not have been as active. But we kept growing. “
This press release has been edited by BloodHorse Staff for content and style.
