Absatootly, Quezon renew rivalry in Saturday's La Verdad Stakes
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Newman Racing's Absatootly and Mac Keller's Quezon will square off for a fifth consecutive race as part of a field of six older New York-bred fillies and mares in the first running of the $100,000 La Verdad at seven furlongs Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The first stakes race of the year on the New York Racing Association circuit will feature Absatootly looking to build on a third-place finish in the Garland of Roses on December 9 at the Big A, which Quezon won by three-quarters of a length. That marked the fifth time in seven stakes starts that Absatootly finished on the board last year, including a half-length score over Quezon in the Iroquois on October 21 at Belmont Park.
Trained by Charlie Baker, Absatootly finished 2017 with Beyer Speed Figures of 80 or better in her last four starts. Jockey Rafael Hernandez will have the call for the first time from post 5.
"She's been doing good and she finished the year pretty well, so we're just hoping to see some the same things from her heading into this year," Baker said.
Quezon rallied from last in the Garland of Roses to register her only stakes win of 2017 in five attempts, including a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Vagrancy on May 5 at Belmont.
The 6-year-old Tiz Wonderful mare earned a personal-best 97 Beyer for running second in the Iroquois, which came one start after running third in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom on September 24.
Quezon is 6-6-2 in 17 career starts. The Bobby Ribaudo trainee drew the outside post with Joe Rocco, Jr. aboard.
Frosty Margarita will return to stakes company after running sixth in an optional claimer on December 10 at Laurel Park. After being stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in that start, the 5-year-old daughter of Frost Giant will return to the La Verdad distance for the first time since running second to Bee Noteworthy in the NYSS Staten Island on November 12.
Gabrielle Farm's Frosty Margarita is looking for her first win in her fifth career start at seven furlongs, though she has three second-place finishes.
Jockey Trevor McCarthy will break from the rail.
The ultra-consistent Bee Noteworthy will look to finish on the board for the fourth time in her fourth career stakes start, drawing post 2 with jockey Kendrick Carmouche aboard. The 6-year-old Read the Footnotes mare won by 5 ¼ lengths over Frosty Margarita, building on an impressive effort in which she took second in the Artic Queen on October 2 at Finger Lakes, falling to Wonderment by a nose.
Bee Noteworthy, trained by H. James Bond, has finished in the money in her last 11 starts and is 7-4-1 in 14 career races. She is 2-for-2 on Aqueduct's main track.
The victory over Bee Noteworthy was the second of two stakes wins in Wonderment's 4-year-old campaign in 2017, with the other coming in the Dancin Renee on June 17 at Belmont.
Trained by Ken McPeek, Wonderment has been training at Belmont and will be looking for her first win in five tries at the Big A, drawing post 4 with Dylan Davis aboard.
Rounding out the field is Holiday Disguise, who has three straight wins since running fourth in her debut as a 3-year-old on March 18 at Aqueduct. Trained by Linda Rice, Holiday Disguise won her first stakes start with a 1 ¼-length win in the Bouweire on May 29. Off a seven-month layoff, Holiday Disguise will break from post 3 in tandem with jockey Junior Alvarado.
Source: NYRA news release
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