NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Venti Valentine is enjoying some time in Florida before making her next start on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Trained by Jorge Abreu, the New York-bred daughter of Firing Line was last seen finishing a determined second in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct on Dec. 5, beaten just a neck by the Todd Pletcher-trained Nest.
Venti Valentine posted a half-mile breeze in 50.80 Jan. 8 at Palm Meadows Training Center.
“She's doing really good and that was a great run from her last time,” said Edgar Estevez, assistant to Abreu. “Jorge is very pleased with the way she came out of the race and he decided to give her a little bit of a rest and start her back up down at Palm Meadows. She's taking it easy right now.”
Venti Valentine's Demoiselle effort came after going 2-for-2 in her first two outings, breaking her maiden at first asking in a maiden special weight at Belmont in September. After eking out a nose victory and defeating 11 fellow state-breds sprinting six furlongs on debut, Abreu stepped the filly up to stakes company next time out in Belmont's Maid of the Mist.
Venti Valentine made easy work of the stretch-out to one mile in the Maid of the Mist, coming from off the pace to secure a 3 3/4-length victory. Applying the same off-the-pace tactics in the Demoiselle, Venti Valentine came up just short but earned a career-best 77 Beyer in defeat.
Bred in the Empire State by Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds, Venti Valentine earned four qualifying Kentucky Oaks points for her runner-up finish in the Demoiselle, tying her with seven other fillies on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard. The filly's next start is still to be determined.
“With horses, every day is something different,” Estevez said. “The plan is still the Oaks and hopefully everything goes to our advantage.”
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