Evvie Jets makes emotional return for Amendola family in Sunday’s Plenty of Grace

Evvie Jets returns off a nearly five-month layoff in Sunday’s $100,000 Plenty of Grace, a one-mile inner turf test for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 5-year-old Twirling Candy mare is trained by Mertkan Kantarmaci for the Estate of Robert J. Amendola, who passed away in November at the age of 79.

“He was the first owner I trained for outside of my own family in this country,” said Kantarmaci, who emigrated from his native Turkey in 2016. “These last years he gave his trust to us and that meant a lot to us. He knew we would take care of his horses like they were our own horses. It was a good relationship and a big loss.”

The talented bay, haltered for $80,000 out of a narrow runner-up effort in September 2021 at Belmont Park, has posted a record of 3-5-0 in 10 starts since led by a prominent score in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel here in October.

Kantarmaci recalled the late Amendola, who operated Amendola’s Fence Co., reaching out about potentially claiming the Kentucky-bred after she had graduated on the Saratoga Race Course turf at sixth asking in a $75,000 maiden claimer.

“Mr. Bob wanted me to look at this filly. I watched her replays and decided to go and take a look the day we claimed her, and he came with me to the paddock,” said Kantarmaci. “We looked and decided to drop a slip on her. She wasn’t a big horse, but she had a really muscled, wide body. She wasn’t too tall, but I liked the way she was built and she was young. The main reason we liked her is she was young and she tried in every single maiden start.

“He really loved her,” added Kantarmaci. “It was the right decision for us and we were the only one in for her, probably because of the price.”