SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Occasionally, there is a fairytale ending in horse racing.
Dr. Agne, a 2-year-old colt by Into Mischief out of the champion turf mare Lady Eli and named after the deceased podiatrist who helped care for the filly when she developed laminitis, won his debut Friday at Saratoga by one length.
Dr. Agne is trained by Cherie DeVaux, who worked as an assistant to trainer Chad Brown when Lady Eli raced from 2014-17. Lady Eli won her first six starts but developed laminitis – a sometimes fatal hoof disease – when she stepped on a nail walking back to the barn after winning the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks in 2015. Lady Eli made it back to the races to win four more graded stakes and in 2017 she was voted champion female turf horse.
DeVaux was right by Lady Eli’s side throughout her recovery which was aided by Dr. Robert Agne, who was killed in an accident in September 2015 when the bicycle he was riding was struck by a car in Vermont.
Carrie Agne, Robert’s widow, came up from Ashville, N.C., to watch Friday’s race, making it here about three minutes to post. DeVaux and Agne, who had never met before Friday, embraced after Dr. Agne crossed the finish line.
“It was a great moment to share with her,” DeVaux said. “I’m not really an emotional person, but this Lady Eli [progeny] with Dr. Agne is a full circle moment for me.”
Said Agne: “Just really incredible. We were all rooting for him and wanting him to do good and wanting to be okay and he pulled it off.”
Friday’s race was scheduled for one mile on the turf. Heavy rains early Thursday evening prompted New York Racing Association officials to transfer four of Friday’s five scheduled turf races to the dirt.
DeVaux said there was not much debate about keeping Dr. Agne in the race, knowing that if things didn’t go well he was probably meant for the turf anyway.
DeVaux had consulted with jockey Jose Ortiz, who had worked Dr. Agne a couple of times on the dirt and jointly they decided it was worth running.
Dr. Agne, who broke in and brushed the gate, raced in sixth position, about seven lengths off the pace while racing on the inside down the backstretch. In upper stretch, Ortiz switched Dr. Agne off the fence and he rallied by the pacesetting Jet Off and held off a late run from Epic Desire to get the victory. Dr. Agne is the third foal out of Lady Eli, the first to race in the U.S.
Dr. Agne, owned by Madaket Stables, Twin Brook Stables, and Belladonna Racing, ran seven furlongs over a fast track in 1:25.97 and returned $9.70.
“For him to win, being a turf horse, I think is remarkable, but this the right step, we needed to see him finish today,” Ortiz said. “He broke good, [I] took him back and finished well. I wasn’t expecting to win, but we knew it was a plus if we did. We are very happy with the result, but I think he’s a turf horse. I think he can be a lot better on the turf.”
DeVaux said that despite the victory on dirt, she expects Dr. Agne would make his next start on the turf.
“I had in my gut that I felt like it would be fine to just get him started as long as everybody managed their expectations that we were taking a shot and if it didn’t work out we were going to go back on the turf in the next couple of weeks,” DeVaux said. “I was just happy that, for this start, we get to have sort of a storybook ending.”
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