Maiden Winners Shine at the Big Easy

This column highlights the performances of 3-year-old maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Fair Grounds Race Course

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots' stacked card of quality maiden special weight fields lived up to its billing on Risen Star day Feb. 15, with four individuals earning Maiden Watch laurels. A trio of those maiden winners, all of which raced within a few hours of each other, may have a date with black-type competition in the near future.

Yinzer captured the final maiden contest of the 14-race card in front-running fashion, finally giving his connections a sense of reassurance that his $1 million price tag was well worth the wait. Saturday's race was the fourth start for the son of Twirling Candy  following a disappointing series of trials and errors. Third in his debut sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs in November at Churchill Downs, the colt veered out greenly in the stretch second time out going two turns and then, outfitted with blinkers for the first time, ran a bit too keenly in the new equipment, fading to finish fifth Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds.

Although the bettors may have lost faith in the colt, setting him loose at 11-1, jockey Keith Asmussen and Yinzer quickly turned the doubters into believers with a two-length victory. Hightailing to the lead, Yinzer devoured the quicker Fair Grounds surface. Unopposed through brisk fractions of :23.70, :46.92, and 1:11.77 the colt responded with a final burst of speed to the wire to keep his rivals at bay. The long-striding bay, trained by Steve Asmussen, raced the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.49.

Yinzer was procured for $1 million at Fasig-Tipton's 2023 The Saratoga Sale by co-owners West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables. W.S. Farish, who stayed in as a partner on Yinzer following his sale, bred the colt and co-bred his dam, the Tapit  mare Rehearsed, a half sister to grade 1 winner Mani Bhavan.

Regally Bred Firsters Score for Cox, DeVaux

Earlier on the card, a pair of half sisters to grade 1 winners took their respective debuts for top trainers Brad Cox and Cherie DeVaux.

Velvet Vortex was the first of the two fillies to graduate, clocking the fastest six-furlong maiden special weight of the day in Saturday's fourth race. Sitting just off the pacesetter early, the daughter of second-crop sire Complexity  chased down the leader over a speed-favoring track for a three-quarter-length score. The final time of 1:09.86 was three-fifths of a second faster than Ahavah ran in her maiden victory two races later.

Trained by Brad Cox for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, Velvet Vortex was acquired by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for $375,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She is the third winner produced from the Smart Strike mare Sweet Pistol, a half sister to Spendthrift Farm stallion and graded stakes winner Thousand Words . The mare's best offspring, Faiza, went undefeated through her first five starts for trainer Bob Baffert, landing the Starlet Stakes (G1) as a 2-year-old in 2022.

Ahavah, the younger half sibling to 2024 Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) victress Vahva (Gun Runner ), was one of the most anticipated maidens of the day. Breaking a bit slowly under jockey Jose Ortiz, the City of Light  filly regrouped within seconds to seize the advantage by the time the field reached the first pole. Paving the way through an early tempo of :21.49 and :45.29, Ahavah turned back her challengers in deep stretch for a determined 1 1/2-length win in a time of 1:10.43.

"She showed a lot of tenacity in her first race," DeVaux said after the race. "She was very game to stay up there; she had every excuse to stay tired but she just dug in gamely to win."

DeVaux noted that while Vahva has fashioned her finest work around one turn, there is a possibility that Ahavah could test longer distances in the future.

Ahavah, a $400,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September sale by Belladonna Racing, who also races Vahva in partnership, is the sixth winner from seven foals to race out of the grade 1-placed Harlan's Holiday mare Holiday Soiree.