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Champion Vequist Ready For ‘Stepping-Stone’ Race In Davona Dale

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable's Vequist, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2020, is set to launch her highly anticipated sophomore season against 11 rivals in Saturday's $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

The 34th running of the one-mile Davona Dale is part of a blockbuster 14-race program featuring nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.475 million in purses anchored by the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds on the road to the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa March 27.

First race post time is 11:30 a.m.

Named for Calumet Farm's champion 3-year-old filly of 1979 that was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1985, the Davona Dale is Gulfstream's next stop for sophomore females toward the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 27. Last year's Oaks winner, Swiss Skydiver, went on to beat males in the Preakness (G1) and be named 3-year-old filly champion.

Vequist, the 7-5 favorite in the Davona Dale, is the latest in a family of champions. Her sire, Nyquist, was named North America's top juvenile male in 2015 and followed up by winning the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby (G1) in 2016. Vequist's grandsire, Mineshaft, earned 2003 Eclipse Awards for older male and Horse of the Year.

Her title was the first for her trainer, Parx-based veteran Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr., approaching his 800th victory in a career that began in 1985. He and his wife and assistant, Ginny, have been overseeing Vequist's preparation at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

“It was a box that I was never sure that I would check, training a champion, so it was nice to get that accomplished,” Reid said. “She's doing really well. We're very happy with her. She's acclimated to the weather down here. We've been down here a couple of months already, so we've taken our time and so far, so good.”

Vequist will be cutting back for her first race since a two-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 6 at Keeneland, a span of 114 days. She has breezed every other week since mid-January for her return, most recently going five furlongs in 59.65 seconds Feb. 13, second-fastest of 30 horses.

“I expect her to run well,” Reid said. “We don't have the screws completely tightened for this one but it should be a nice stepping-stone with some big races down the line in mind.”

The Davona Dale offers 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) to the Kentucky Oaks (G1), scheduled for April 30 at Churchill Downs. Vequist is currently fourth in the standings with 24 points, all but four of them coming from her Breeders' Cup triumph.

Following the Breeders' Cup, the connections gave Vequist a breather at noted horseman Dr. Barry Esiaman's farm near Ocala, Fla. before she returned to Reid to begin preparations for her 2021 campaign.

“After the Breeders' Cup we wanted to get three starts in her and have the [Kentucky] Oaks be her third start of the year. This just fit well,” Reid said. “It's a one-turn mile, a little bit of a turnback, but we didn't want to go back any further than that. We didn't have to train her too hard for this one, and she's coming up to it well.”

Vequist made her career debut last July for Swilcan's Tom McGrath, running second by a nose after chasing the winner, fellow first-time starter Niente, from the gate in a 4 ½-furlong maiden special weight at Parx. Barber and Adam Wachtel saw enough to buy into the promising filly, who romped by 9 ½ lengths in the historic Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga in just her second start.

From there, Vequist was stretched out to a mile for the Frizette (G1) at Belmont Park, where she wound up two lengths behind Dayoutoftheoffice, another finalist for the 2-year-old filly Eclipse, and 10 ¼ lengths ahead of everyone else. Overlooked as the fourth choice in a field of seven for the Breeders' Cup, Vequist got an inside trip at Keeneland never far from the lead and found enough room to kick clear late.

“It was a sensational year. It all happened so quick. One day we were in a maiden race at Parx and the next thing we knew we were winning a Grade 1 at Saratoga,” Reid said. “It was all a bit of a blur but, in the end, it was very satisfying to be there with my family and everything.”

Reid said he has noticed a growth in Vequist, both physically and mentally, in her time since the Breeders' Cup. Riding for the first time is two-time defending Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. from Post 3 at topweight of 123 pounds.

“Definitely, physically you can see it. She's bigger and she's filled out nicely since her 2-year-old campaign,” Reid said. “She always had a good head on her shoulders, so she didn't have too much to jump forward there. She's just a smart filly and doesn't worry about too much so we're excited to get this first one under our belt.

“We're taking it one start at a time and we'll re-evaluate after this first start and make our plan from here,” he added. “There's a lot of exciting races on the horizon.”

Breeze Easy's Ontario-bred stakes winner Curlin's Catch will be among the horses looking to spoil Vequist's season debut. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the bay daughter of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin made her first two starts last fall on the all-weather surface at Woodbine before getting time off.

Casse moved Curlin's Catch to the dirt for her sophomore opener Jan. 3 going a mile at Gulfstream, and she responded with a front-running 2 ¾-length triumph over next-out winner Tabor Hall. She stretched out for the Suncoast Stakes Feb. 6 at Tampa Bay Downs, rating just off the pace before splitting horses and sprinting clear to a 4 ½-length victory. She is 8-1 on the morning line.

“In the last race we had actually planned on being a little closer, but it didn't work out that way and it was fine. She handled it well,” Casse said. “We aren't going to be very far off of it. We are cutting back from the mile and 40 yards and two turns to one turn, so that's a little different. But she's not going to be far back.

“She's two-for-two on the dirt and definitely headed in the right direction,” he added. “This will be a true test on Saturday, [to see] where she fits in with the 3-year-old filly gang.”

Jose Ortiz has the call aboard Curlin's Catch from Post 4.

Another daughter of Curlin, Juddmonte Farms, Inc.'s homebred Millefeuille, is entered to make her sophomore debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The bay filly broke her maiden second time out going a mile last October at Belmont Park, and was beaten less than a length when second in the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle (G2) Dec. 5 at Aqueduct. Hall of Famer John Velazquez gets the assignment from Post 5.

Like Vequist, Phoenix Thoroughbreds III's Crazy Beautiful also exits the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, where she ran sixth following runner-up finishes in the Alcibiades (G1) and Pocahontas (G3). Winner of the Ellis Park Debutante last summer, she will be making her Gulfstream debut for Ken McPeek, the trainer of Swiss Skydiver. Robby Albarado rides from Post 6.

John Michello's Competitive Speed looks to rebound off a disappointing sixth, though beaten just 4 ½ lengths after some early traffic trouble, in the seven-furlong Forward Gal (G3) Jan. 30 at Gulfstream. She had won each of her previous three starts, including the 6 ½-furlong Glitter Woman Jan. 2 to open her sophomore season. Leonel Reyes has the call from Post 7.

Also entered are Adios Trippi, winner of the seven-furlong Gasparilla Jan. 16; Lady Traveler, Wholebodemeister and Three Tipsy Chix, respectively second, third and seventh in the Forward Gal; Happy Constitution, third in the seven-furlong Our Dear Peggy last fall at Gulfstream; Pens Street, a maiden winner last fall at Gulfstream who ran second in a Feb. 4 optional claiming allowance in her only two starts; and Hindsight.

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Performer Chasing Encore In Gulfstream Park Mile

Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer, who captured the Jan. 23 Fred W. Hooper (G3), will seek to produce an encore performance in Saturday's $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the 5-year-old son of Speightstown is slated to top a field of seven older horses in the one-turn mile event on Saturday's 14-race program with nine stakes, headlined by the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2).

Joel Rosario worked out a winning trip aboard Performer after breaking from the rail post position in the Hooper, also run at a one-turn mile. Pinned down on the rail along the backstretch, Performer was swung to the outside on the turn into the homestretch and out-battled Eye of a Jedi to the wire to win by a neck.

“He gutted it out pretty good,” McGaughey said. “He was down on the inside. Joel looked up and saw those horses on the lead were going easy, so that's when he eased him to the outside. I don't think it killed him to win, but that horse that finished second is a pretty darn horse.”

The Hooper was Performer's sixth victory in eight career starts.

“He seems to have come out of the race good. He had a very good work the other day,” McGaughey said.

After finishing third in his November 2018 debut, the Phipps Stable's homebred won five races in a row, including the 1 1/8-mile Discovery (G3) at Aqueduct. His streak was broken with a third-place finish over a sealed sloppy track in the Dec. 5 Cigar Mile (G1) at Aqueduct before getting back to winning form in the Hooper.

Performer has demonstrated the versatility to win at distances from 6 ½ furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, but McGaughey favors the longer distances for the Kentucky-bred.

“I'd like to run him around two turns. I kind of thought about that, but the race here [March 27 Ghostzapper (G3)] would be over two months and run him back a mile and an eighth. I could have taken him to New York for the [April 3] Excelsior, but that would be 11 weeks almost,” McGaughey said. “I thought, 'Well, I'll get a solid race in him here going a mile and can use either one of those for a mile and an eighth. I'll feel a lot better about his fitness level going a mile and an eighth.”

Jose Ortiz, who will ride McGaughey-trained Greatest Honour in the Fountain of Youth, is scheduled to ride Performer for the first time Saturday.

R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Hugh Lynch's Tax is scheduled to return to action in the Gulfstream Park Mile after finishing 10th in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup International (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

The Danny Gargan-trained 5-year-old gelding previously captured the Harlan's Holiday (G3) by 4 ½ lengths at Gulfstream in his previous start.

Junior Alvarado has the call aboard the son of Arch.

Trainer Steve Budhoo's Eye of a Jedi, an ultra-consistent 6-year-old gelding who seems to be getting better with age, will seek to turn the tables on Performer. The son of Eye of the Leopard had finished a late-closing second behind Tax in the Harlan's Holiday prior to his narrow loss to Performer.

Marcos Meneses has the return mount aboard Eye of a Jedi.

Gelfenstein Farm LLC's Avant Garde, who has won six of eight starts since being claimed for $10,000, is set for a return in the Gulfstream Mile after closing from last to finish third, 1 ½ lengths behind Eye of a Jedi, in the Hooper. Trainer Gustavo Delgado is also scheduled to saddle Gelfenstein Farm's homebred Summer Kid, a 4-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid who is coming off a victory in a first-level optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will ride the son of Tonalist for the first time, while Edgard Zayas has the return call on Summer Kid.

WinStar Farm and China Horse Club International's Fearless is scheduled to make his first start since finishing sixth in the June 20 Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old Ghostzapper gelding launched his career with two straight victories during the 2019-2020 Championship Meet.

Trainer Todd Pletcher named Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride Fearless.

Phat Man, who finished second in last year's Gulfstream Mile, is set for a return Saturday for owners Marianne Stribling, Force Five Racing LLC and Two River's Racing Stable LLC. The Kent Sweezey-trained 7-year-old gelding finished an even fifth in the Hooper after checking in third in the Harlan's Holiday.

Paco Lopez is scheduled to ride Phat Man for the first time Saturday.

Daniel Alonso's Wind of Change, a Brazilian import who finished a distant fourth in the Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) last time out, rounds out the field.

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Fountain of Youth Trio All Have Something to Prove

There's little doubt that 3-year-olds Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music), Fire At Will (Declaration of War) and Prime Factor (Quality Road) are talented individuals. But whether or not they are legitimate contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby is a question each one will have to answer in Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park.

The mile-and-a-sixteenth Fountain of Youth, which drew a field of 10, has a clear favorite in Greatest Honour (Tapit), the Shug McGaughey-trained winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. But whether or not he wins may depend on how Fire at Will handles the dirt, how well Drain the Clock can handle two turns and whether or not Prime Factor can rebound off a third-place finish in the Holy Bull as the even-money favorite. From his main competition, there have been more questions than answers.

Of the group, Fire At Will, a Breeders' Cup winner, is the most accomplished. Trained by Mike Maker, he finished off his 2-year-old campaign with wins on the grass in the GII Pilgrim S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. By Declaration of War out of a Kitten's Joy mare, Fire At Will has a strong turf pedigree, but trainer Mike Maker wants to find out if he can handle the dirt against top company. In his lone start on the main track, he won the off-the-turf With Anticipation S. last summer at Saratoga.

“We thought he deserved a chance and there aren't many races of any significance on the turf for him right now,” Maker said. “This is the time to try something like this. Hopefully, he'll run as well on a fast track as he did on a sloppy track.”

Fire At Will has never worked on the turf and has had a steady diet off five and six furlong breezes since the Holy Bull.

“He's a very efficient mover and is professional,” Maker said. “You can't knock him at all.”

Drain the Clock's only career defeat came when his rider lost an iron in the Jean Laffite S. at Delta Downs. Otherwise, he's proven to be among the best 3-year-old sprinters in training. He won the Limehouse S. by 7 1/2 lengths and then came back to blow away the competition in the GIII Swale S. at seven furlongs. Trainer Saffie Joseph knows that he has a good horse, but can't be certain how far he will go.

“So far, he has done everything that we have asked and the one blemish on his record was not his fault,” Joseph said. “This will be his first time at a distance and, in the back of your mind, you always wonder how that will turn out.”

As Joseph sees it, it makes perfect sense to experiment in the Fountain of Youth.

“There's stamina on the dam's side of his pedigree,” he said. “There's no reason to think he won't go a mile-and-a-sixteenth, the question is whether or not he will be as good at a mile-and-a-sixteenth. Talent-wise, I think he is as good as any of the horses in this race. But I know he has to prove that.”

Drain the Clock should benefit from the draw. He drew the one hole, arguably the best post in the race, and should have no problem taking control early without much other speed signed on.

'TDN Rising Star' Prime Factor will start just outside of Drain the Clock in the two post. He looked sensational when breaking his maiden by 8 3/4 lengths in his first career start. A $900,000 yearling purchase trained by Todd Pletcher, he became one of the most hyped horses of the early winter, but couldn't back that up when finishing third, beaten 9 1/2 lengths in the Holy Bull. The question Saturday will be whether or not he can run back to his debut.

“I don't know if it was an easy decision to go in this race or not,” Pletcher said. “The horse made it easier by training well since the Holy Bull. The harder decision was going in the Holy Bull off one six-furlong start; Ideally, we would have liked to have found an allowance race for him and made a more gradual progression into a graded stakes.”

Pletcher hopes that Prime Factor learned enough in the Holy Bull that he will take a step in the right direction Saturday.

“We're hoping that the lack of seasoning and experience was the reason why he didn't run as well as we had hoped in the Holy Bull,” he said. “He's come back with a couple of good breezes. I was disappointed with his last race. We didn't go out there to finish third by nine. But we think we had some legitimate reasons for it and I think it's logical that he will move forward after having that experience.”

The Holy Bull field, from the rail out, consists of Drain the Clock, Prime Factor, Sososubtle (Speightster), Fire At Will, Jirafales (Social Inclusion), King's Ovation (Not This Time), Tarantino (Pioneerof the Nile), Greatest Honour, Tiz Tact Toe (Tourist) and Papetu (Dialed In).

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Got Stormy ‘Good And Ready’ To Debut For Spendthrift In Honey Fox

Seeing the price go up as multiple Grade 1-winning mare Got Stormy went through the sales ring last fall, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse got a sinking feeling.

“I knew that there was a reserve on her. My wife and I watched from our office that night, and when she went well over the reserve, I said, 'Well …'” Casse recalled. “There was a sad moment.”

The feeling didn't last long. Shortly after the hammer fell, Casse's phone rang. At the other end was Ned Toffey, general manager since 2004 of Spendthrift Farm, which spent $2.75 million to acquire the multi-millionaire daughter of Get Stormy.

“I got a call about 15 minutes later from Ned Toffey and he said, 'I'm going to ask you a real dumb question. We bought her and we're going to run her another year, do you want to train her?'” Casse said. “I just laughed and I said, 'Yeah, that is a dumb question.'”

Got Stormy won 10 of 26 starts and more than $2 million in purses for Casse and previous owner Gary Barber. Eight of those wins came in stakes, five of them graded, including the Fourstardave (G1) over males and Matriarch (G1) in 2019.

“I had a conversation with Mark really right after we signed the ticket,” Toffey said. “Mark was really happy to have her rejoin his stable and he assured me that he felt like she would be more than ready to move forward and have a good year this year. Of course, we won't put her in a spot to do anything she can't do, and Mark's a great caretaker. Certainly the way she's worked has only heightened our excitement for what we'll see from her this year.”

Got Stormy will begin her fifth and final season of racing Saturday in the $125,000 Honey Fox (G3) at Gulfstream Park. The 36th running of the one-mile Honey Fox for fillies and mares 4 and up is among nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.475 million on a spectacular 14-race program.

Headlining the card is the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds on the road to the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, and the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) for 3-year-old fillies, featuring the season debut of 2020 juvenile filly champion Vequist.

First race post time is 11:30 a.m.

Got Stormy will be returning to Gulfstream for the first time since winning an optional claiming allowance in March 2019. It is where the daughter of Grade 3 turf-winning mare Malabar Gold broke her maiden in her third lifetime start in February 2018.

“We're very pleased with her. Last year I felt like maybe I didn't have her quite as ready for her first start when we ran her, and the one thing I did was I tried to get her ready on the dirt,” Casse said. “So, this year I changed my mind and I sent her down and she's been breezing over the turf. She loves to breeze on the turf. She should be a good and ready.”

Given a freshening following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) Nov. 7, and a pair of dirt workouts at Casse's training center in Ocala, Get Stormy joined his string at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training center in Palm Beach County, where she has breezed five times since mid-January. Two of them were bullets, a five-furlong move in 57.35 seconds Feb. 5 and a half-mile work in 47.45 Feb. 12.

“She's doing well. She got a little break after the Breeders' Cup and Mark's just gradually brought her back along,” Toffey said. “In all of our conversations he's just been thrilled with how she's been working, so we're as excited as everybody else is to see what she does.”

Got Stormy raced eight times in 2020 with two wins and two seconds, finishing fourth in the Endeavour (G3) in her debut. She continued to race between a mile and a mile and a sixteenth without success, including a runner-up finish in defense of her Fourstardave title, before Casse cut her back to sprinting.

She responded by winning the 6 ½-furlong Ladies Sprint (G3) over a soft course at Kentucky Downs and the 5 ½-furlong Franklin County (G3) at Keeneland leading up to the Breeders' Cup, where she raced in mid-pack and wound up fifth, beaten two lengths.

“I'm anxious to see what the year brings for her [because] 2020 was a crazy year for a lot of reasons,” Casse said, “but for her, it was about weather, bad weather, and so many times running her on a track that she didn't care for. And she now has a new dimension; she can sprint, as well. So it opens up some options.

“The biggest thing for her is, I don't want to run her over a mile,” he added. “If she is going to run a mile, it has to be very fast.”

Got Stormy was not the only big-ticket purchase for Spendthrift last fall. They also went to $9.5 million for Monomoy Girl, the champion older mare of 2020 and champion 3-year-old filly of 2018 who is also back in training for one more year.

“We just thought it was a great opportunity for us to acquire some really good mares that eventually will wind up in our broodmare band. [Got Stormy] was one of a group that we bought that we felt could really upgrade our broodmare band and that we'd have a little fun with running for one more year before they come to Spendthrift. These kind don't come around very often,” Toffey said. “She's a pretty exciting type of mare, that's for sure.”

Regular rider Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard from Post 2 in a field of nine that includes main-track-only entrant Nomizar.

Casse also entered D. J. Stable's three-time graded-stakes placed Art of Almost. The Dansili mare will be opening her 5-year-old season after capping 2020 running second in the 1 ¼-mile Maple Leaf (G3) Nov. 7 at Woodbine and third in the 1 1/16-mile My Charmer Dec. 12 at Gulfstream. Hall of Famer John Velazquez rides from outside Post 9.

Heider Family Stables' Zofelle returned from 211 days between races to be a popular winner of the one-mile Marshua's River (G3) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream. It was the 5-year-old mare's first start since finishing fifth on the Just a Game (G1) last June at Belmont Park, after which she was given a break. Second in the one-mile Sand Springs last winter in her only other Gulfstream race, she will be ridden from Post 6 by Irad Ortiz Jr.

Three Diamonds Farm's Jakarta will be stretching out to a mile for the first time since winning the Powder Break last May at Gulfstream. Third to Got Stormy in the Franklin County, the 6-year-old Bustin Stones mare won the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash Dec. 3 and was fourth in the Abundantia Jan. 1, both five furlongs over Gulfstream's turf.

“She's stretching out a little bit, but she's doing well so we're looking forward to it,” Nolan Ramsey, assistant to trainer Mike Maker, said. “She's one of those horses where she always finds herself on the front end. I don't know that she's necessarily quick enough to go five-eighths down here. Speed seems to hold down here, so we're kind of hoping we might get things our way. We'd like to try her at least going a mile down here.”

Kendrick Carmouche, in from New York to ride Fire At Will in the Fountain of Youth, has the assignment on Jakarta from Post 8.

Completing the field are multiple stakes winner Feel Glorious; Bienville Street, neck winner of the 1 1/16-mile Sunshine Filly & Mare Turf Jan. 16 at Gulfstream; Secret Time, runner-up in the Cellars Shiraz Nov. 7 at Gulfstream Park West last out; and Ricetta, Group 3-placed in England last summer.

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