Exercise rider Teresa Hagemeier had to work to keep Vequist on the ground Monday morning as the Grade 1-winning filly was more than happy to go back to the track two days after completing her last serious breeze in advance of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
With trainer Butch Reid overseeing his string at Parx, his wife and assistant Ginny got an eyeful as Vequist was full of herself while galloping about 1 5/8 miles over the Keeneland main track.
“She was ready to do this today,” Ginny Reid said. “The breeze really woke her up. Every time you do something strong with her, she gets that much better. I'm really pleased with the way she went and how nice and relaxed she is after the gallop. She's doing very well.”
Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable, Vequist most recently finished second to fellow Juvenile Fillies contender Dayoutoftheoffice in the Frizette Oct. 10. Prior to that outing, the dark bay filly broke her maiden and became the first Grade 1 winner for her sire Nyquist when she blitzed the field by 9 ½ lengths in the seven-furlong Spinaway on Sept. 6.
The decision to go in the Spinaway off a runner-up outing in her career debut at Parx on July 29 was spurred in part by new additions to her ownership, but also by Reid's faith that the filly would get better as the distances got longer.
“Early on, there was a deal made where Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel bought into her and it was kind of their push to go ahead and get her in a Grade 1,” said Butch Reid, who won the 2011 Breeders' Cup Marathon with Afleet Again. “And we knew the further distances were what she was looking for. We ran her 4 ½ furlongs first time out and she wanted no part of that. At seven-eighths, she's just starting to get warmed up. I think it was more the distance than a lot of other things.”
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