'Out of time': Vequist to skip Kentucky Oaks
Since the inception of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 1984, Open Mind and Silverbulletday rank as the only horses to use the Juvenile Fillies as a springboard to Kentucky Oaks success.
Both horses were overseen by trainers who gained Hall of Fame stature. Open Mind won the Juvenile Fillies in 1988 for D. Wayne Lukas before Silverbulletday came along a decade later for Bob Baffert.
That history will remain intact.
Trainer Robert “Butch” Reid is no longer targeting the Kentucky Oaks with Vequist, last season’s Juvenile Fillies winner and 2-year-old champion. An endoscopic examination revealed considerable congestion in her lungs following a dismal ninth-place finish in the Feb. 27 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park, her lone start this season.
[RELATED: Crazy Beautiful rallies to win Gulfstream Park Oaks for McPeek]
“We kind of ran out of time and we’re not going to press her. We are still very high on the filly, and there are a lot of big races down the road,” Reid said. “We’re thinking about the Alabama and the Cotillion and the Breeders’ Cup. We’re not going to push her to make any one race. We’ll let her tell us when she’s ready to go.”
Vequist, a daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, ranks 10th on the Churchill Downs leaderboard with 24 Oaks qualifying points. She is owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and her breeder, Swilcan Stable. Reid emphasized that it was difficult to decide to bypass a race with as much prestige as the 1 1/8-mile Oaks, set for April 30 at Churchill Downs.
“We think we have one of the top 3-year-old fillies in the country, if not the top 3-year-old filly, so it’s very disappointing not to make the race,” Reid said. “But you’ve got to put her first and keep your thoughts out of it. In our outfit, the horse always takes priority.”
He praised jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for wrapping up on his prized filly in the Davona Dale. Although she was racing mid-pack, it quickly became clear that she lacked the punch she possessed when she drew clear by two lengths in the Juvenile Fillies. She completed her initial campaign with two victories and two runner-up finishes for earnings of $1,235,500.
Once Vequist recovered from the Davona Dale, she was shipped from Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla., to Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center in Elkton, Md.
“She came out of Florida with a lot of congestion in her lungs, so we’ve been working on getting that cleared up,” Reid said.
The veteran trainer was greatly encouraged by what he saw when he visited the lone Eclipse Award winner of his career this past Saturday at Fair Hill.
“She looked fantastic. Her coat really blossomed and she’s happy to be out of South Florida. She never really was in full blossom down there, now that I look back at it,” Reid said. “As soon as we got her out of Florida and got that cooler, less humid air, she did a lot better. So that’s one of the things we’re going to keep in mind moving forward. It doesn’t look as though she is a good warm-weather horse.”
Vequist is to return to her home base at Parx Racing this week. She is likely to have her first breeze since the Davona Dale next weekend.
“It was touch and go. We were kicking around the Oaks for a while,” Reid noted. "The Acorn on Belmont Stakes Day (June 5) makes a lot more sense, turning back to a one-turn mile and getting her started there. But we haven’t really nailed down anything.”