DeVaux adding blinkers for Brilliant Berti in Green River Island
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It has been a good year – a very good year – for the “blinkers on” move in Cherie DeVaux’s stable.
In March, she added blinkers to Golden Tempo’s equipment package for his fourth start. He went on to win the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont. Brilliant Berti lacks that sort of upside, but he has not been quite the same horse this year as last, and DeVaux hopes the addition of blinkers can dredge a better race from the 5-year-old in the $300,000 Green River Island Stakes on Sunday at Ellis Park.
Brilliant Berti ended his 2025 campaign with the best performance of his career, beaten one length in the Grade 1 Turf Mile at Keeneland, with only Rhetorical and Program Trading ahead of him. DeVaux basically gave him a comeback race at Fair Grounds, a course Brilliant Berti does not love, figuring the horse would move forward returning to Kentucky for spring and summer races. He has not, with mild fourth- and fifth-place finishes his last three starts.
“We’re just trying to tweak things a little bit. He just kind of seems like he’s been waiting on horses. I’d like to see him more engaged,” DeVaux said.
The Green River Island, for older horses at 1 1/16 miles, drew an overflow field of 15 – the gate can accommodate a dozen of them – and is the last of five stakes on a 10-race program. All the stakes actions comes on turf, and Mother Nature might or might not get with the program: There’s roughly a 50-50 chance of enough rain Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday to turn the Ellis course soft, if not force a move to dirt.
Brilliant Berti, drawn in post 2 with regular jockey Brian Hernandez, is the 3-1 morning-line favorite, and even at his best, would be no sure thing to top familiar rival Mercante. The two horses have met three times, Mercante coming out on top twice, but essentially operating at just about the same peak level as Brilliant Berti.
Mercante this year, however, has proven the better horse. He got a questionable trip returning from a winter break in the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park, ran below his best in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill, and last out finished second behind Lagynos – one of the best grass horses in North America so far this year – in the Wise Dan on June 27, also at Churchill. There, Mercante ran a strange race, coming off the bridle and losing position past the quarter pole after getting an ideal trip stalking a longshot from second. But Mercante had something left, and once he switched leads, he surged forward and gained on the winner the final half-furlong. Mercante drew post 12 but has the early foot to find a decent spot behind likely pacesetter Quatrocento.
Lambeth, 4-1 on the line, got a great setup winning a high-end allowance race in his last start, while Vote No, listed at 10-1, endured a tough trip last out at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Giocoso, predicted to be a 15-1 shot, has a chance at a price. His season got off to a rocky start, but 4-year-old Giocoso turned things around last month at Lone Star and ran well over the Ellis course two summers ago.
Tri-State Turf Sprint
The Into Trouble family – a talented bunch – is having a weekend at Ellis Park.
On Saturday, Into Trouble’s son Trouble Calling runs in a high allowance race, and her daughter Big Trouble goes in the Hummingbird Stakes. Sunday, it’s Troubleshooting’s turn in the $250,000 Tri-State Turf Sprint.
The 5 1/2-furlong Turf Sprint drew a dozen entrants, Troubleshooting and Joe Shiesty the most likely to come out on top. Just a neck separated the two June 6 at Churchill, with Joe Shiesty second and Troubleshooting third in the Mighty Beau.
Joe Shiesty, a dedicated front-runner, blew the start and lost his chance finishing eighth in this race last August, but had less of an excuse when seventh the year before. He might not love the Ellis course, while Troubleshooting turned in bang-up performances in two tries over it last summer.
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