New trainer Adrianne DeVaux brings 3 to Fair Grounds

Photo:

Courtesy Adrianne DeVaux

Racing has another DeVaux to reckon with.

Adrianne, whose older sister Cherie has risen to national prominence as a trainer, will take the next steps of her young career with a three-horse stable when Fair Grounds opens a 76-day meet Friday.

Adrianne, 26, already has a win under her belt since obtaining her trainer’s license in September. Gold Square’s Shoot the Nickel took care of that when the 2-year-old Violence colt, making his second career start, captured a maiden optional claiming race Sept. 28 at Belmont at the Big A. Shoot the Nickel returned to Aqueduct to be fourth in the Nov. 1 Atlantic Beach Stakes.

Three-year-olds Two Tons of Fun and Walks on Water provide the other two trainees for the younger DeVaux. She is optimistic Two Tons of Fun will more than hold his own in starter allowance company. Louisiana-bred Walks on Water will look to break her maiden.

Adrianne noted that although she did not intend to go it alone this soon, she could not be more excited about her humble beginnings.

“I could not be happier. Mentally, I’m in a fantastic place,” she said. “I’m very proud of the horses I have and how they look. And I’m proud of myself for being able to take this huge leap of faith. I just get to it instead of it being a goal and a dream.”

Adrianne is confident she learned her lessons well as an understudy to her sister for four years, to Art Magnuson for three years and, recently, to Chad Summers. Her parents were heavily involved in the standardbred business, and she spent much of her youth on the backside of the harness-racing track in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

She enrolled at the State University of New York at Albany, but she probably knew a college degree was not in her future when she skipped the first day of math class to watch one of Magnuson’s horses run. She left Albany after one year because the desire to work with horses was too strong to resist.

Summers is confident Adrianne has the qualities necessary for success. “It’s about having that passion and love for the horse. I think she has that,” he said. “You can’t lose that along the way. You have to keep seeing it over and over.”

Summers also sees in the younger DeVaux the work ethic required to meet the incessant demands a trainer faces. “This isn’t 9-5, stop off at Starbucks on the way to the office,” he said. “You’re here from sun up until sun down, and you have to want to be here to make it work. The dedication part of it she understands and grasps.”

According to Adrianne, her time with Cherie was a huge help as she learned to develop quality 2-year-olds. Their time together also presented challenges.

“It’s so hard to work with family and be around them 24-7,” she acknowledged. “You kind of lose what is actually the personal relationship and the work relationship. It’s nice now to be separate. We don’t have to talk about work and we can just be family.” Family bonds recently led Cherie to deliver a salad to her younger sister to make sure she did not miss lunch.

Adrianne emphasized that she and her increasingly prominent sister are very different people. “She kicks butt on the level she is. I’m much happier on a smaller scale,” she said. “I’m happy to have a mix of claiming and allowance horses at Fair Grounds and New York.”

Cherie, 42, recently saddled her first Breeders’ Cup winner when More Than Looks lived up to her name in the Mile. For now, Adrianne is not thinking about competing on such a grand stage.

Her next goal? To build her operation to 15 horses.