Joyful Victory's
body of work on the racetrack would stack up well in any stable: an
11-4-2-2 record for earnings of $555,068 and two graded stakes
victories.
But then Joyful Victory is not in just any barn … her stablemate is reigning Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, who, like Joyful Victory, is owned by Fox Hill Farms.
“We
know that she is not Havre de Grace,” trainer Larry Jones said. “In
this barn, expectations get pretty high, but we are not discouraged with
her. We have a lot of hope for her.”
Joyful
Victory tipped her hand early last year when she won the Honeybee (G3)
by 8¾ lengths and the Fantasy (G2) by seven lengths at Oaklawn Park. Off
those efforts, the Tapit filly went off as the favorite in the Kentucky
Oaks (G1) and finished fourth behind Plum Pretty.
After
the Oaks, Joyful Victory finished second in the Mother Goose (G1) at
Belmont Park and then fifth in the Coaching Club of America Oaks (G1) at
Saratoga in which she came out of the race with a chip in a knee.
“Things
did not go her way in the Mother Goose and then she got hurt at
Saratoga,” said Jones, who put Joyful Victory back into light training
here last fall.
After
nearly six months off, Joyful Victory ran second in a turf allowance at
Fair Grounds, won the Tiffany Lass on the main track and ran third in
the Azeri (G3) at Oaklawn, all under Robby Albarado, who will be in the
saddle Friday when she goes postward in the Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare
(G3).
“In
her first race back on the turf, the pace was too slow early,” Jones
said. “Then she won that little stake and she got a little tired in the
Azeri. I shipped up to Oaklawn only once, but I watched a lot of races
and it looked like they all needed a race over the track.”
Joyful Victory has had two works over the main track here as she prepares for her racing debut on Polytrack.
“She
has never been on the Poly and we are kind of experimenting with her to
see what kind of options we have for her the rest of the year,” Jones
said. “Robby has been on her a lot and knows her well and it seems like
the whole team has been together with her for awhile now.”