Deviant is First Stakes Winner for His Sire and Owner

El Joven Stakes winner Deviant made a big splash in his stakes debut Aug. 14 at Retama Park, where he became the first black-type winner for his sire, Daredevil , and his owner, Chris Hicks.

Jockey Lane Luzzi settled Deviant toward the back of the 10-horse field in the early going for the one-mile race on the grass. Racing wide for most of his trip, the colt steadily gained ground on the leaders and took command coming out of the turn at the top of the stretch. Deviant kicked away easily from his challengers to win by 7 3/4 lengths in 1:36.59.

Hicks, an owner/breeder who lives in Mason, Texas, and races as Red Lane Thoroughbreds, bought Deviant for $150,000 out of the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the South Point Sales Agency consignment.

"This was a colt we fell in love with from the first moment we saw him," said Hicks' racing manager, Frank Alosa, who selected Deviant at the sale with trainer Danny Pish. "He was a big, strong, good-walking colt we knew we wanted to add to the stable."

Watching the colt bred in Ontario by Robert Harvey go on to become Hicks' first stakes winner could not have been more rewarding, Alosa added.

"Mr. Hicks has made a real investment at the sales over the past three years. He and his family were at the race, and it was great to see him get this win with a horse we all believed in. Really sweet," he said.

Pish launched the colt's racing career in the spring at Churchill Downs, where he started three times in maiden special weights ranging from five to six furlongs. Deviant raced well, getting third in his debut, but showed signs he needed more ground.

"He wasn't fading, but he wasn't kicking on, either, like the sprinters," Pish said.

When Churchill's spring meet ended, Pish and Alosa started looking for two-turn opportunities. They also suspected the colt might thrive on the grass because his dam, the Monashee Mountain mare Alkmaar, is a half sister to grade 1-placed turf stakes winner Hollinger (by Black Minnaloushe).

"Grass is one of those things you don't know about until you try," Pish said about the decision to try the El Joven. "It certainly seems to have moved him forward." 

Daredevil never raced on the grass, but his sire, More Than Ready , who also stands at WinStar, has 39% winners on the turf from foals of racing age compared with 27% winners on dirt. This statistic is skewed some because More Than Ready has regularly shuttled to Australia where grass is the predominant surface, but the sire has thrived Down Under because his progeny succeed on both surfaces.

Deviant certainly gets precociousness from Daredevil, who won two of three starts at 2, including a victory in the Champagne Stakes (G1) in which he earned a 113 Equibase Speed Rating. At 3 and racing for the partnership of Let's Go Stable, WinStar, and China Horse Club, Daredevil was second in the Fasig-Tipton Swale Stakes (G2) before retiring with a 2-1-0 record in five starts and $424,600 in earnings.

Daredevil has been represented by three winners and two stakes-placed performers—Shedaresthedevil, who was third in the Sorrento Stakes (G2) at Del Mar, and Jewel of Arabia, who was third in the Stillwater Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Daredevil is one of 10 freshman sires to be represented by a black-type winner.