Evvie Jets will control tempo in Plenty of Grace
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Evvie Jets will look to use her apparent pace advantage to overcome a layoff and some classy-looking opponents when she runs in Sunday’s $100,000 Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct.
In a field of six scheduled to run one mile on turf, Evvie Jets looks like the lone speed. Her four career victories have come when she’s raced on or close to the pace, including a 1 1/4-length victory in last October’s Grade 3 Noble Damsel going a mile here.
Trainer Mertkan Kantarmaci said he obviously wouldn’t mind seeing Evvie Jets on the lead, but only if she’s doing it comfortably under Eric Cancel.
“We leave it to her,” Kantarmaci said. “Sometimes she breaks angry from the gate, then we just give it to her and she ends up being the speed.”
Kantarmaci said he believes Evvie Jets, whom he claimed for $80,000 on behalf of owner Robert Amendola in 2021, is more mature since returning from a vacation following her runner-up finish in last November’s Forever Together Stakes.
“She calms down every time we send her to the farm for a short break,” Kantarmaci said. “I think she’s settled a little bit more this year.”
Amendola died last November and his son, Michael, is overseeing what is now a three-horse stable.
The Plenty of Grace has been run seven times and it’s been won by two trainers – Chad Brown (5) and Christophe Clement (2). Both trainers will be represented in Saturday’s renewal.
Clement sends out Malavath, a Group 2 winner in Europe who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar in 2021 and fifth, beaten 1 3/4 lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Mile last Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
Malavath was one of four horses Clement purchased at the Arqana Bloodstock sale last December in Deauville, France. One of those horses, Amazing Grace, won the Orchid Stakes at Gulfstream Park in April.
In her two U.S. starts, Malavath has attempted to rally from last, perhaps making her vulnerable if the pace is soft Sunday.
“Last year in Europe she was a nice filly, a notch below the better ones,” Clement said. “It’ll be interesting to see how much improvement we get from her just getting older.”
Jose Ortiz rides Malavath from the rail.
Brown sends out Whitebeam, a filly who won 3 of 6 starts in Europe but has not competed in a group stakes. Whitebeam, unraced since Oct. 22, does show a sharp work tab, which could suggest her being a bit more forward than she displayed in her European races.
“She’s trained on the bit pretty good,” Brown said. “She’s never had a bad day of training with me.”
Manny Franco rides from post 6.
Spirt and Glory won the Virginia Oaks last summer, but looks pace compromised in this spot. Runaway Rumour rallied behind a slow pace to get up in last October’s Ticonderoga Stakes here and makes her first start since.
Toned Up completes the field on turf. Impazible Donna would run only if this race is transferred to the dirt.
The Plenty of Grace goes as race 3 on a nine-race card that begins at 1:20 p.m.
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