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Champion, Breeders’ Cup Winner Vequist Tops Nominees To Feb. 27 Davona Dale

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable's Vequist, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2020, stands out among 30 nominees as she is poised to launch her sophomore season in the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) Saturday, Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

The one-mile Davona Dale for 3-year-old fillies is among eight stakes, seven graded, on a spectacular program supporting the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds, and serves as the next step for sophomore females on the road to the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 27.

Last year's Gulfstream Park Oaks was won by Swiss Skydiver, who would go on to defeat males in the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) and win the Alabama (G1) en route to the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly.

Trained by Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr., Vequist broke her maiden in her second start – a 9 ½-length romp in the seven-furlong Spinaway (G1) last summer at Saratoga. From there, the daughter of 2016 Florida Derby (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist ran second in the one-mile Frizette (G1) and captured the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 6 at Keeneland by two lengths.

Vequist has spent the winter in South Florida, posting four works at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. Her most recent came Feb. 13, when she went five furlongs in 59.65 seconds, second-fastest of 30 horses.

Trained and co-owned by Timothy Hamm, Dayoutoftheoffice is also nominated to the Davona Dale. She broke her maiden sprinting 4 ½ furlongs last May at Gulfstream, then won the Schuylerville (G3) at Saratoga and beat Vequist in the Frizette before suffering her first loss when second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Others prominent among Davona Dale nominees are Ken McPeek-trained stablemates Simply Ravishing and Crazy Beautiful, 1-2 finishers in the Alcibiades (G1) last fall at Keeneland; trainer Todd Pletcher's undefeated duo of Zaajel, winner of the Jan. 30 Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream, and Malathaat, yet to race at 3 after capturing the Tempted and Demoiselle (G2) at Aqueduct; and stakes winners Adios Trippi, Competitive Speed, Curlin's Catch, Dreaming of Drew, Gulf Coast, No Mo' Spending, Oliviaofthedesert and Quinoa Tifah.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, pointing Holy Bull (G3) winner Greatest Honour to the Fountain of Youth, also has Performer among 18 nominees to the $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) for 4-year-olds and up on the main track. Grade 1-placed Performer's two Grade 3 wins include the Fred Hooper Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

Claimer-turned Grade 1-winner Math Wizard is also nominated, along with multiple graded-stakes winner Tax, cross-nominated in the Mac Diarmida but yet to run on turf; Eye of a Jedi, second in the Hooper and Harlan's Holiday (G3) this winter; Sunshine Classic winner Last Judgment; Mr Freeze, winner of the Fayette (G2) and second in the Pegasus World Cup last year; 2020 Hooper winner Phat Man and War Stopper.

Twenty-nine older horses were nominated to the $200,000 Mac Diarmida (G2) going 1 3/8 miles on the turf, 11 of them by Mike Maker, who captured the past two editions of the race with Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) winner Zulu Alpha. Among his contingent are Grade 1 winner Aquaphobia; Bemma's Boy, winner of last year's Pan American (G2) at Gulfstream; Cross Border, most recently third in the Pegasus Turf Jan. 23; and Tide of the Sea and Temple, 1-2 in Gulfstream's W.L. McKnight (G3) Jan. 23.

Pletcher nominated Pegasus Turf winner Colonel Liam and War Stopper, a two-time winner on dirt during the Championship Meet. Multi-millionaire Sadler's Joy won the Mac Diarmida in 2018 and most recently ran fourth in the McKnight to open his 8-year-old season. Graded-stakes winners Admiralty Pier, Admission Office, Eons and Spooky Channel are also on the list of nominees.

Colonel Liam is also one of 23 horses nominated to the $125,000 Canadian Turf (G3) for 4-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles, along with Largent, the Dec. 12 Fort Lauderdale (G2) winner, and 2020 Appleton (G3) winner Social Paranoia, who respectively ran second and fourth behind their stablemate in the Pegasus Turf.

Fillies and mares 4 and up will contest the $125,000 The Honey Fox (G3) going one mile and the $125,000 The Very One (G3), contested at 1 3/16 miles. Got Stormy, a multiple Grade 1 winner of more than $2 million, and Marshua's River (G3) winner Zofelle top 27 Honey Fox nominees, while the 22 The Very One noms include Always Shopping, who became a graded winner on turf and dirt with her victory in the Jan. 23 La Prevoyante (G3) going 1 ½ miles.

Aside from the Fountain of Youth, sophomores will share the spotlight in the $100,000 Herecomesthebride (G3) for fillies and the $100,000 Palm Beach, both at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Gulfstream stakes winners Con Lima, Quinoa Tifah and Spanish Loveaffair are among 20 Herecomesthebride nominees, while the Palm Beach attracted 22 nominations led by Kitten's Joy (G3) winner Chess's Dream.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Fire At Will and Tarantino, second in the Holy Bull (G3) in his dirt debut, are also nominated to the Palm Beach but are being pointed to the Fountain of Youth.

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Monday Morning Qb ‘Raring To Go,’ Could Target Preakness Stakes

Cash is King and LC Racing's stakes-winning 3-year-old Monday Morning Qb, a game second behind undefeated Happy Saver in the Federico Tesio Sept. 7 at Laurel Park off a seven-month layoff, is under consideration for the 145th Preakness Stakes (G1) Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

The 1 3/16-mile Preakness, run this year as the final jewel in a refashioned Triple Crown while serving as a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), anchors a weekend of 16 stakes, nine graded, worth $3.35 million in purses Oct. 1-3.

Monday Morning Qb earned his lone stakes victory last December in the seven-furlong Heft at Laurel Park and was briefly on the Triple Crown trail, finishing fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Withers (G3) Feb. 1 at Aqueduct. The sizeable Maryland-bred son of Imagining was given time after that race to mature and develop, returning to trainer Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr. last month.

He was entered but unable to draw into the field for a one-mile turf allowance Aug. 28 at Laurel and wound up launching his comeback in the 1 1/8-mile Tesio, the traditional local prep for the Preakness. He set solid fractions of 24.76 seconds, 48.82 and 1:13.13 before being overtaken at the head of the stretch by Happy Saver but battled on despite failing to switch leads, finishing 1 ½ lengths behind the winner but nine lengths clear of Big City Bob in third.

“He ran very well considering the layoff. To come back going a mile and an eighth was not an easy task, so we were very pleased with his effort,” Reid said. “He came out of it well. He's been back to the track and he looks happy and raring to go. He was definitely tired afterwards but after a couple days he bounced right back. We're real happy with him.

“I think if he switched leads, I'm not saying we would have beat that horse but he'd have been a lot closer I believe,” he added. “He's got a little bit of a concentration problem that we have to work on to get him to switch leads turning for home. He's kind of always had that habit. It's unfortunate because he does it perfectly in the morning.”

The Tesio was Monday Morning Qb's second straight race at two turns. His sire was a multiple graded-stakes winner going long on the grass including the 2014 Man o' War (G1) for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, and earned nearly $1.2 million in purses.

“We felt all along he'd get two turns,” Reid said. “We really think he's going to route on turf is what he's going to end up being. We'll think about getting him on the turf. I would like to try that before the end of the year, for sure.”

To that end, Reid said the connections are also considering the $100,000 James W. Murphy on the Preakness undercard. The Murphy, also for 3-year-olds, is contested at a mile on the grass.

“We're looking at both races. We still haven't ruled out the Preakness, to be honest with you,” Reid said. “The Murphy for straight 3-year-olds going a mile on the turf [is interesting]. We'll definitely make him eligible for both of those races and pick our best spot from there.”

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Vequist Crushes Her Opposition To Earn Maiden Diploma In Spinaway

Second, beaten a nose at Parx Racing in her only previous start, Vequist ran away from her five rivals under Luis Saez to win Sunday's Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga race course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., by 9 1/2 lengths.

Esplanade finished second, with lady Lilly third and Irish Constitution fourth. Time for seven furlongs on a fast main track was 1:22.29.

Trained by Robert “Butch” Reid, Vequist was sent away at odds of 6-1. She tracked Esplanade in second from the outset through fractions of :22.41 and :44.87 for the opening half-mile, took command at the top of the stretch and drew away down the stretch as she pleased after a six-furlong split of 1:09.33.

Bred in Florida by Thomas McGrath's Swilcan Stables, Vequist is from the first crop by Nyquist – the 2015 champion 2-year-old male champion and 2016 Kentucky Derby winner. She's out of the Mineshaft mare, Vero Amore, a graded stakes-placed runner for Swilcan whose best stakes performance came when second to Stopchargingmaria in the G2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico in 2014.

Following her first start at Parx on July 29 when second to Niente, Wachtel Stables and Gary Barber each bought an interest from McGrath

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