Swilcan Stable's stakes-winner Vedareo will look to carry on her family's successes and make the grade when she takes on the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette on Sunday at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.
The winner of the one-mile Frizette will receive a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 4 at Keeneland as part of the “Win And You're In” qualifying series.
In 2013, veteran conditioner Butch Reid, Jr. landed the winning bid of $15,000 for a 2-year-old Mineshaft filly, who was later named Vero Amore, at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. He saddled her to two victories, including a runner-up finish in the 2014 Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan for Swilcan Stable. Vero Amore would go on to produce 2020 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist, and subsequently, Vedareo.
Reid, Jr. said Vero Amore has proven to be a wise investment.
“We bought that mare and she's been a very prolific broodmare to say the least. She's been fantastic,” said Reid, Jr.
Vequist, a daughter of Nyquist, became one of Reid, Jr.'s best runners to date with her Championship campaign, posting wins in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga Race Course and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies before making one start as a sophomore and retiring with earnings of over $1.2 million.
Reid, Jr. noted the similarities between the siblings.
“Mentally, Vedareo is a little more high strung and physically, she isn't quite as big as Vequist is just yet,” said Reid, Jr. “But she looks just like her and by the time she gets into her 3-year-old year, she's going to be very close to her big sister. She looks like her mother more than anything – a jet black filly just like her.”
Vedareo will vie to finish one better in the Frizette than her accomplished sibling did in 2020 when she rallied from off-the-pace to finish a close second to Dayoutoftheoffice. A daughter of Daredevil, Vedareo is the only horse in the field of seven to have raced at a mile. She won at that distance last out in the Sorority on August 21 at Monmouth Park, leading at every point of call and widening her margin down the stretch to post a convincing six-length win.
“We thought that [she'd stretch out] all along. She's a natural route of ground horse just like her big sister, so I'm glad we got that one in her,” said Reid, Jr.
Vedareo arrived at the Sorority from a pair of sprints that included her debut maiden victory going 4 1/2 furlongs in June at Parx and a well-beaten fifth-place finish in the Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga.
“I liked it a lot,” Reid, Jr. said of the Sorority. “You can see she was a little cranked up the first part of it coming off the sprint races, and then down the backside, she dropped her head down and was moving nicely and finished well. That gives us confidence coming back at the same distance.”
With a 2-for-3 lifetime record, Vedareo's only blemish came in the Grade 3 Schuylerville on July 14 at the Spa where she bobbled at the start and bumped hard with a foe before going two-wide and coming up empty down the lane under Joel Rosario.
Reid, Jr. said the troubled trip and a deep main track were reasons for him to draw a line through the outing.
“We had some horses at Saratoga this year and found out early in the meet that it's a very deep track,” said Reid, Jr. “She had been training at Parx and only got up there a couple days before the race and I don't think she was quite fit enough for that level of competition or the depth of the racetrack. She got down to Monmouth and got that race under her belt, so we'll draw a line through the Schuylerville.”
Vedareo posted a sharp half-mile work on September 23 at Parx Racing, breezing over the main track in 47.91 seconds, the sixth-best time from 22 works that day.
Reid, Jr. said he is looking forward to another chance at a Frizette victory.
“She had a real nice breeze last week and that should set her up real nice for this,” said Reid, Jr. “She's galloping real strong. We're very happy and ready to go.”
Vero Amore, who also produced the Reid, Jr.-trained Grade 3-placed Mainstay, gave birth to a filly by Accelerate in 2021.
Jose Ortiz has been tasked with the ride aboard Vedareo from post 5.
Reid, Jr. celebrated another strong showing from 3-year-old filly Morning Matcha last Saturday when she rallied from 14 1/2 lengths off the pace to finish a game runner-up to Society in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx.
Owned by LC Racing, Cash is King, and Gary Barber, the Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Central Banker made her home track proud with her effort in the Bensalem oval's biggest race for fillies, building upon a resume that includes a victory in Parx's Main Line in March. The Cotillion marked her second graded stakes placing.
Reid, Jr. said the sturdy filly has consistently held her form since debuting at Monmouth Park last June.
“She's been a trooper all along and going steadily since last year. She ran the race of her life on Saturday and to do it in front of the home crowd was really exciting,” said Reid, Jr. “I'm really happy for her more than anybody else.”
Morning Matcha has picked up five other stakes placings, including runner-up efforts in Aqueduct Racetrack's NYSSS Fifth Avenue and Busanda. Reid, Jr. said a return to the Big A this fall for the Grade 3, $175,000 Comely on November 25 may be in the cards.
“She gives it her best effort every time. She may not always win, but you know she's going to make a run. There's nothing really left down here at Parx against straight 3-year-olds, so we see off in the distance that the Comely might be the last chance to run against straight 3-year-olds, so that's definitely a possibility.”
Out of the multiple stakes-placed Iam the Iceman mare Home Ice, Morning Matcha was an $18,000 purchase at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Eastern Fall Yearling Sale and has banked more than $630,000 in her two seasons of racing.
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