Despite big win, DeVaux taking her time with Bout Time

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cherie DeVaux has set a high bar for herself. A resounding victory by a 4-year-old filly named Bout Time last Sunday on the Churchill Downs turf might have had another trainer speaking in superlatives, but DeVaux took a more clinical approach.

“She’s a nice filly, really pleasant to train,” said DeVaux. “We’ll probably just go back in a ‘two-other-than’ allowance, either here or in New York, depending on what comes up for her.”

Bout Time is one of several fillies and mares in DeVaux’s care that already are stakes winners or appear on the threshold of becoming one. Gam’s Mission gave DeVaux her first career graded victory here last spring when taking the Grade 3 Regret, while Bayerness was an easy winner of the Roxelana on opening night of the Churchill spring meet. Another turf sprinter named Salvaje was a last-out winner of a Keeneland allowance and also is on the upswing.

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They’re all part of a master plan that DeVaux, now 40, mapped out for herself when she resigned her longtime position as a top lieutenant to Chad Brown early in 2018, the third of four straight years that Brown won the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer. Being around as many standouts as she was during nearly eight years under Brown, she has something of a unique perspective of what may or may not be a horse of genuine quality.

DeVaux, a native of upstate New York, has made Kentucky her primary base since going solo four years ago while also frequently venturing elsewhere, including Saratoga for the summer and New Orleans for the winter.

“I’ve built from the ground up and always tried to maintain what’s really important to my core values, which is always putting the horse first,” ssaid DeVaux, who is married to the noted bloodstock agent David Ingordo.

“I’m really grateful the way that things have progressed. We’ve given some of these horses time when they needed it, hoping it would reward us in the future, and it did. David and another client, Paul Manganaro, have been extremely supportive. Each year our stable has doubled in size, and it’s been very manageable. I’m so very thankful.”

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Ingordo is the guiding force in Belladonna Racing, which is comprised of various partners. Belladonna owns Bout Time and Bayerness and co-owns Salvaje, while the Lazy F Ranch, of Forego fame, is the owner of Gam’s Mission.

Bayerness, a winner in five of 11 starts, goes next in the Grade 3 Chicago going seven furlongs on the main track June 25 at Churchill.

“It’s a track she likes, and she runs well off the layoff,” said DeVaux. “The year-end goal is the Breeders’ Cup” Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 5 at Keeneland. “We’re trying to make every race count with her.”

Salvaje, as with Bout Time, also will be pointed to a second-level allowance going short on the grass, while Gam’s Mission goes next in the Grade 3 Mint Julep, a 1 1/16-mile turf race on June 5 at Churchill.

DeVaux, a former bodybuilder, suffered an injury last year that ultimately required a knee replacement in late October. She’s doing just fine now after adhering to a strict rehabilitation regimen.

“I’d been walking around on a fractured femur,” she said.

Better her than her horses.