Better known as a top breeding operation that has produced
more than 120 stakes winners, including Venetian Way (1960 Kentucky Derby) and
Pike Place Dancer (1996 Kentucky Oaks), Glencrest Farm has remained relatively
low-profile when it comes to racing horses.
This year, however, the small stable has a big star in Devil
May Care, the East coast’s top filly who Saturday faces California-based Blind
Luck and four others in the 130th running of the Grade 1, $500,000
Betfair TVG Alabama at Saratoga Race Course.
“We felt this was a special filly from Day One,” said
Glencrest’s John Greathouse of Devil May Care, whom he purchased as yearling
for $110,000 with the intent of later selling her as a 2-year-old. However,
when Devil May Care was consigned to the 2009 Fasig-Tipton 2-year-olds in
training sale, she instead was bought back by Greathouse for $400,000.
“She was just better than the others,” said Greathouse. “She
had a high cruising speed, and gave you a lot of :11 and changes. We were happy
to keep a filly to race, and toward that end she has disappointed neither Todd
Pletcher nor myself.”
One of a handful of horses campaigned by Glencrest over the
past few years – their first breakout horse was the multiple stakes winner
Honey Ryder, who retired with a record of 13-4-8 and earnings of more than $2.7
million – Devil May Care rewarded her connections almost immediately by
becoming a Grade 1 winner in her second start, taking Belmont Park’s Frizette
by a head after stumbling at the break.
Finishing 11th over the artificial surface in the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (a race in which Blind Luck was third), Devil
May Care did not fare well in her 2010 debut, finishing fifth in the Grade 3
Silverbulletday at the Fair Grounds, but quickly regained form with a solid
victory in the Grade 2 Bonnie Miss over Amen Hallelujah.
The decision was then made to send the strapping daughter of
Malibu Moon –
who had more than held her own against some of trainer Todd
Pletcher’s top colts during morning works – to the Kentucky Derby. The lone
filly in the field, she finished 10th behind stablemate Super Saver
in the 1 ¼ mile race.
“At the five-sixteenths pole, I wouldn’t have traded places
with anyone in the world,” said Greathouse. “It was a sticky track that day,
and lots of people on hand screaming … but she came out of it very well,
continues to train well and gives us a lot of confidence.”
Devil May Care, whom Greathouse named after a James Bond
novel (other Bond-themed Glencrest horses have included Honey Ryder,
Moneypenny, and Babyurthebest) bounced out of the Derby in good order, and
since then has fashioned consecutive Grade 1 wins in the Mother Goose and the
Betfair TVG Coaching Club American Oaks.
With the exception of the Derby,
the 1 ¼ mile Alabama
could be her toughest test to date.
“This step on Saturday is a big step, as Blind Luck is the
most accomplished horse in the field,” said Greathouse. “But days like Saturday
– Alabama Day – are like our industry’s World Series. It’s a big day and it
creates a lot of buzz. It’s fun to see people come out to the races and to be a
part of it.”
Especially with a filly like Devil May Care.