Devereux's fingerprints all over John Henry Stakes
A long-absent horse making his first start for Patrick Devereux Jr. and a horse running for the first time since leaving that trainer’s barn are key players in the $60,000 John Henry Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up that is the ninth race on Saturday night’s 10-race card at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La.
Easy Crossing, formerly trained by Ken McPeek, will make his first start for Devereux and his first start in 11 months as the 7-year-old son of English Channel seeks his first stakes win. Among the 12 horses entered, Easy Crossing has the highest last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 92, but that figure was earned in a victory last May over a yielding Churchill Downs turf course in an optional $80,000 claiming race.
With rain in the local forecast earlier in the week, the race might be run on a soft course or moved to the main track. Easy Crossing has never run on dirt, but if the race stays on turf, then Devereux’s statistics in the relevant categories make Easy Crossing a strong contender.
Since the start of 2015, Devereux shows profitable returns on investment when running new acquisitions for the first time and when running horses in turf races, in routes, and in stakes. Moreover, he and jockey Diego Saenz have combined to win with 12 of their 31 starters together over that span for a healthy $3.34 ROI.
Easy Crossing has been working steadily at Fair Grounds and Evangeline Downs for his return, including a bullet five-furlong move in 1:01.20 at Evangeline on April 2. Easy Crossing is the 9-2 second choice on the track’s morning line, with Stormdriver the 3-1 favorite.
Stormdriver raced for Devereux from March 2015 until last month, when the 6-year-old son of Discreet Cat finished ninth in the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap on the main track at Fair Grounds. That effort came after Stormdriver finished last of 12 in the statebred Dixie Poker Ace on the Fair Grounds turf. The top three finishers from the Dixie Poker Ace – Hail to the Nile, Next Event, and McGehee’s Mercy – all return in this spot.
Stormdriver will be making his first start for trainer Karl Broberg, who shows a profitable $2.05 ROI and a 34 percent strike rate since the start of 2015 when sending out horses for the first time. In Stormdriver’s only start on the Evangeline turf, he finished third, beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Potomac River, in the $75,000 Sunset Stakes last July.