Ahavah

Knowing when a horse is ready to take a step up and when it's time to take a step back--it's one of the fundamentals of training. Get it right and you get rewarded. Get it wrong and, well, you'll likely know pretty quickly. Some trainers just seem to have a feel for where that line is, a sense of when to ask for more and when the horse might need a little more time and preparation. Cherie DeVaux is learning to hone that intuition. "It is a balance to be...

Six starts. Six wins. Godolphin homebred Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) stamped herself as a force to be reckoned with in Louisville on the first Friday in May with yet another impressive win, this time in Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Already a winner over the track and distance in February's GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes, the 2-5 favorite picked up her fourth straight win over the 1 1/16-mile distance. Breaking with the speed from the outside, Good Cher assumed a good stalking just off the pace as Ahavah (City of Light)...

6th-Fair Grounds, $55,000, Msw, 2-15, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:10.43, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. AHAVAH (f, 3, City of Light--Holiday Soiree {SW & GISP, $405,642}, by Harlan's Holiday) overcame a bit of a sluggish dispatch and held off a persistent late challenge from fellow well-tried first-starter Unwavering Trust (Nyquist) to take the second division of the 3-year-old filly six-furlong maiden Saturday afternoon at the Fair Grounds. A bit flat-footed at the break, the $400,000 Keeneland September yearling, whose half-sister Vahva (Gun Runner, $1,802,810) won last year's GI Derby City Distaff, mustered...