SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – More than a decade after helping Lady Eli make it back from a near-fatal case of laminitis, trainer Cherie DeVaux will start one of that mare’s progeny in a maiden race Friday at Saratoga. Dr. Agne, a colt by Into Mischief and the third foal out of Lady Eli, the champion turf female of 2017, will debut in a one-mile turf event that is Friday’s sixth race. Dr. Agne will be Lady Eli’s first foal to make it to the races in the United States. Hms Endeavour, by War Front, won two of his first three starts in Ireland for Aidan O’Brien, but ultimately ended his career 2 for 21. Hampshire, an Irish-bred 4-year-old by Galileo, finished 10th in his lone start, also for O’Brien. DeVaux said Dr. Agne was scratched out of an auction and purchased privately by some of Lady Eli’s previous connections, including Sol Kumin, who back then raced under Sheep Pond Partners. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports DeVaux was an assistant to Chad Brown, the trainer of Lady Eli, when that filly raced. She won her debut at Saratoga in August 2014 and continued on to win her first six starts, topped by the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks on July 4. On her way back to the barn after that win, Lady Eli stepped on a nail and the wound developed into laminitis, a sometimes fatal hoof disease. Lady Eli’s prognosis was iffy. With the help of veterinarians Dr. Robert Agne of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, and Dr. Bryan Fraley of Fraley Equine Podiatry, Lady Eli survived and ultimately made it back to the races. DeVaux, back then overseeing Brown’s Belmont Park string, spent countless hours by Lady Eli’s side. “There was very restrictive exercise, walking for five minutes,” DeVaux recalled. “I was there the whole time for that. There was no day I wasn’t there overseeing that or doing it myself.” Lady Eli, away from the races for 13 months, made it back in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa in August 2016 but was beaten in that race. She came back to win the then-Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont before getting beat by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Lady Eli in 2017 came back to win two Grade 1 stakes, including the Diana here, and though she was beaten in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, she was voted champion female turf horse. “She had such tenacity,” DeVaux said. “She went through so much, she was tough, tough, tough to be around and had to be tough to be able to get through everything she went through. She had the mental fortitude to get through it mentally and she showed it.” Dr. Agne has shown talent in the morning. To make sure she wasn’t observing with rose-colored glasses, DeVaux had Jose Ortiz come breeze Dr. Agne a few times for an unbiased opinion. “He’s really been impressed with him. He’s worked him on the dirt a couple of times,” DeVaux said. “He’s done everything easily. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t all emotional. I’m a rational thinker looking at horses and he’s doing everything the right way. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t having blinkers on with my thoughts.” DeVaux expects Friday to be an emotional day, made more so by the fact Carrie Agne, Robert’s widow, is scheduled to attend the races with some of friends. “I’m really excited. It’s emotional to have something from her but also he’s a nice horse,” DeVaux said. “He’s an exciting prospect, even if he just runs a good race [and loses] and he comes out of it in good order.” Dr. Agne isn’t the only 2-year-old with a high-profile mother in the pedigree that resides in DeVaux’s Saratoga barn. Nymue, by War Front, is the last foal out of the champion mare Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year who won 19 of 20 career starts. Though Nymue is acting precocious – she inadvertently made it onto the work tab last week when she was supposed to just gallop – she is likely not debut until the fall and likely in Kentucky, DeVaux said. “Her biggest hurdle and challenge is going to be her size at this point,” DeVaux said. “She’s been sound but we’re just putting the base on her. We’re going to have to start watching her very closely when we put that speed work into her and then we’re going to have to see if that translates and if she can hold that for a route of ground.” Nymue is the fifth and final foal out of Zenyatta. Only two of the previous four made it to the races – both for trainer John Shirreffs – but did not win. DeVaux has only had Nymue in her barn for a month, but has already been impressed with what she’s done so far in her training. “I’m trying not to be too optimistic, but she acts like she can really run,” DeVaux said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.