Alabama Profile: Devil May Care
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.