La Verdad Rolls to Interborough Victory
Since running second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, La Verdad has put off retirement, run sixth against the boys in the Fall Highweight (G3), and been voted a finalist for the Eclipse Award for Top Female Sprinter. In the meantime trainer Linda Rice decided to send her New York-bred star out in the $100,000 Interborough on the inner track at Aqueduct where she easily earned her sixteenth career victory.
The millionaire daughter of Yes It’s True won this six furlong stake the way a .40-1 favorite should, with the outcome of the race never in doubt. Regular jockey Jose Ortiz had his possible champion six-year-old break alertly out of the gate to vie for the early lead. Long shot (51-1) Fat Kat tried to contest La Verdad for the top position during the first furlong while racing on the rail, but Ortiz was able to gain the lead and easily extend it around the track.
"I broke good and felt we were in good position even though the No. 2 horse [Fat Kat] got a little bit of a jump on me,” said Ortiz. “Little by little once I got to her, I got there and by the time I was in front I just took it easy. I waited a little bit more then I let her go around the turn. Linda brought her in at 100 percent and ready for this race. When I asked her to go she went very well.”
After easy early fractions of 23.22, 46.15, and 58.05, La Verdad came down the middle of the long Aqueduct stretch in the familiar hot pick silks of owner Sheila Rosenblum’s Lady Sheila Stable to gain a facile 2 ¾ length victory in a final time of 1:10.65. Dancing House finished second and Room for Me got third place. Fat Kat faded to finish last in this field of six.
After the race Rice spoke about La Verdad, "We brought her home from the Breeders' Cup and after the Fall Highweight which, two years in a row, was somewhat disappointing, she trained well, we kept her in New York and made plans to breed her to Medaglia [d'Oro]. Sheila and I spoke about it and said, 'well, she's doing so well, let's see if we can win a race or two with her before she goes.' We will be pointed to the [Grade 2] Barbara Fritchie [on February 13 at Laurel] off of this, so hopefully she can get another win and go out a winner.”
"When you've got a filly that has won as much as she has, it puts a little extra pressure on us. It's a little nerve-wracking, but I don't think you can operate out of fear. The filly doesn't owe anybody anything. Sheila and I certainly enjoy racing La Verdad."
Ahead for La Verdad are the Eclipse Awards on Saturday, January 16, a planned start in the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie (G2) at Laurel Park on Feb. 13, and a rendezvous in the breeding shed with stallion Medaglia d’Oro.
The victory in the Interborough is the 11th time that La Verdad has won a stakes race. That includes last year’s Honorable Miss (G2), which she won at Saratoga, but was disqualified from the purse money after a medication overage that is being contested by Rice. Her career stats now stand at 25: 16-3-0 for $1,563,000. With no show wagering available in the race, La Verdad returned $2.80 and $2.10 to the bettors.