Speak of the Devil Flies Home in Distaff Turf Mile

Kicking off her stateside debut in a whirlwind fashion was Chad Brown trainee Speak of the Devil  who completed Brown's 'one-two punch' after passing stablemate In Italian  in the final furlong to win the Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G2T) May 7 at Churchill Downs.

"(They are) two nice fillies, and you hate to run them against each other because they're both really top-quality horses," Brown said. "Looking for a mile turf stakes right now, there weren't many options, so we decided we would run them both against each other.

"We had the pace covered either way. We knew that if there was no speed in the race like there was about to be, we had it covered on the front with In Italian, a confirmed front-runner with quality, and then Speak of the Devil, knowing it's her first time in the country, she was probably going to fall back a bit out of the gate and come with one run."

Coming off a five-month hiatus from her last start, a winning effort in the listed Prix Tantieme, in the fall of 2021 at Saint-Cloud Racecourse, Speak of the Devil stayed off the pace and remained in sixth until making her move at the three-furlong marker and streaking down the stretch to win by 2 3/4 lengths. 

The 5-year-old daughter of Wootton Bassett  owned by Peter Brant had previously finished second in the 2020 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (G1) in her third start and had placed in the 2021 Prix Rothschild (G1), both at Deauville.

Brown says the mare has improved both mentally and physically since coming to the U.S. and has steadily progressed in training. 

"She always trained well, every work continued to train better and better. Had some nice form way back over in France," Brown said. "Maybe her last couple of starts she might've just been a little tired or something, but also physically when you bring these horses over, she looked like a tired horse when I got her very late last year.

"I just turned her out for a while and really eased her into training slowly. Every week I just couldn't believe the coat and the weight on her. She looked like a tiger when we took her off the van here."

Brown also mentioned that he was proud of how the mare performed but felt like she was slightly mentally rattled from the atmosphere. He said that Jockey Flavien Prat handled the mare's nerves well.  

Prat also commented on the run, saying, "I thought I was in some good holes, but for some reason she was not progressing down the backside. I decided to drop down to the inside, and as soon as I called on her, she cut really well."

In Italian, Brown's other horse in the field and also owned by Brant, was dominant from the onset of the race, moving easily into the lead and holding her position until the stretch when she fell to second.

Gradually moving up in class, the 4-year-old daughter of Dubawi  improved quickly after breaking her maiden in May 2021. She started in only one allowance race before winning the March 5 Honey Fox Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park, her first attempt at a graded stakes.  

Between his two talented horses with whom he could play the pace, Brown says he moved positively into the Distaff Turf Mile and thought he had a good shot.

"Going into the race, I felt pretty confident one of them was a likely winner just from a pace standpoint. But you just never know, anything can happen, it's a big stakes.

Next up for Speak of the Devil could be a start in the Just a Game Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park in June or the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course in July. Brown says that he will make a game plan with Brant first and that his priority is for the health of the animal. 

"You couldn't rule it (Just a Game Stakes) out," Brown said. "She certainly looks like she'll stretch out, but a race like the Diana is not until the summer, so she may meet another filly with green silks on here in five weeks but we'll see, I'll talk to the boss about it.

"As always, you have to keep these horses healthy, can't ever take them for granted. (Trainer Bobby) Frankel used to tell me they're like strawberries; they spoil overnight. He got that from someone else way before him. Clearly for 100 years it's just been taking it day to day with horses and making sure they're healthy."

Speak of the Devil was bred in France by Herve Viallon. She is out of the Indian Rocket  mare Moranda , who is also the dam of multiple group stakes winner Morando . Moranda has an unraced juvenile Anodin  filly and a yearling Best Solution  colt. 

Video: Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. (G2T)