DeVaux Saddles Back-to-Back First-Out Winners

This column highlights the performances of 2-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.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux had a particularly good day at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Dec. 20 when she saddled consecutive first-out winners Golden Tempo and White Smoke.

Both of them are following the script of how Thoroughbred racing is ideally supposed to work. They are by accomplished sires, out of strong families, and showed determination in the stretch with both closing from fourth in the final furlong to win convincingly.

Golden Tempo is Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stables' homebred son of elite sire Curlin  out of the grade 1-placed, graded stakes winner Carrumba. The colt is the first starter for Carrumba, who is a daughter of Bernardini bred and raced by Phipps Stable. Carrumba's dam, Castanet, is a half sister to Manhattan Stakes (G1T) winner Dancing Forever, whose dam Dancinginmydreams is a full sister to 1994 champion 3-year-old filly Heavenly Prize.

Golden Tempo got off to a slow start in the 6-furlong, $55,000 maiden special weight at Fair Grounds where he trailed the field for the first three furlongs. At the top of the stretch, Fancy Fairlane had a 4-length lead on the field. Jockey Jose Ortiz steered Golden Tempo to the middle of track with plenty of room to unleash his potential, which is did. He sailed past the competition to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:10.66.

In the next race on the card, Ortiz would see the same scenario unfold with White Smoke, a gray or roan daughter of Essential Quality  out of the multiple stakes producer Mira Alta (Curlin). The filly broke last and trailed in the back of the pack until the top of the stretch, where she found clear running room in the middle of the stretch and dispatched her foes to win by 1 length over Gerber Daisy. The final time was 1:11.04.

White Smoke races for Belladonna Racing, Twin Brook Stables, Woodford Racing, and B.C.W.T. She was bred by Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds and sold for $500,000 through the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Warrendale Sales. Mira Alta is an unraced half sister to 2006 Breeders' Futurity (G1) winner Great Hunter (Aptitude), who was also third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Mira Alta has produced three other winners that include grade 3 winner Promise Keeper (Constitution ), graded-placed stakes winner Wicked Awesome (Awesome Again), and graded-placed winner War Stopper (Declaration of War).

Calumet Farm homebred Thunder Buck also captured his first win later on the Dec. 20 Fair Grounds card, going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Making his second career start for trainer Brad Cox, the son of leading sire Gun Runner  held a stalking position under Luis Saez in the early going as pacesetter Special Ops led through leisurely fractions of :24, :47.72, and 1:12.80. The middle of the track was apparently the place to be, with Thunder Buck making his run five-wide in the stretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths. The final time was 1:44.83.

Thunder Buck is out of grade 3 winner Oxy Lady, a Calumet homebred by the farm's stallion and 2013 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Oxbow . Oxy Lady is out of the graded-placed winner Renaissance Lady (A.P. Indy), who is a daughter of stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Storm Beauty (Storm Cat).

The immediate family produced Express Kid (Bodemeister), who won the Dec. 20 Remington Springboard Mile and earned 10 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Amo Racing USA's Thailand carried valuable experience into his third start in a Dec. 21 two-turn maiden special weight at Turfway Park and came out with a win after knocking on the door in his two previous third-place finishes.

The son of Not This Time  with rider Flavien Prat tracked second throughout the 1 1/16-mile contest on Turfway's all-weather main track and edged out Maginnesontap by nose. The final time was 1:44.80.

Thailand was a highly regarded yearling at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale, its select summer yearling sale in New York, where Amo Racing went to $900,000 to acquire him out of Taylor Made Sales Agency's consignment. With trainer Wesley Ward, Thailand made his first two starts on the turf, first at Keeneland and next at Churchill Downs. He would finish in third by about a length in both efforts.

Christopher St. Hilaire and Adam Vali bred Thailand out of the Old Topper mare Queen Bee to You, who St. Hilaire claimed for $50,000 in December 2016 at Del Mar. Queen Bee to You would go to win the 2019 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) and 2020 La Canada Stakes (G3) among her four career stakes victories. She has career earnings of $658,770 from 33 starts. Thailand is his dam's third named foal and third winner. He is a half brother to Princess Madison, a grade 2-placed daughter of Speightstown.