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Champion Vequist Heads Ky Oaks Noms

Champion 2-year-old filly Vequist (Nyquist), winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland last fall, tops the roster of 106 early nominations to the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs Apr. 30. Campaigned by a partnership consisting of Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swillcan Stable and trained by Butch Reid Jr., Vequist is based at Palm Meadows in South Florida and is scheduled to run in Saturday's GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream Park.

Other top contenders that were nominated to the Oaks include Stonestreet Stables' GIII Rachel Alexandra S. winner Clairiere (Curlin) and OXO Equine's runner-up Travel Column (Frosted); Harold Lerner, Magdalena Racing and Nehoc Stables' GI Alcibiades S. winner Simply Ravishing (Laoban); and Shadwell Stable's undefeated Malathaat (Curlin).

Trainer Todd Pletcher led all conditioners with nine fillies nominated to the Oaks followed by Kenny McPeek who had eight.

Each of the 106 fillies nominated to the Oaks were made eligible by a $200 payment that was due Feb. 13. Fillies not nominated to the Kentucky Oaks can be made eligible through a $1,500 late fee due Apr. 10 or a $25,000 supplemental nomination due at the time of entry. The Oaks field is limited to 14 starters and up to four fillies can be designated as “also-eligible” to start. Eligibility to compete is determined by points amassed during the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” point series.

A complete list of nominations will be available at https://www.churchilldowns.com/horsemen/stakes/nominations/.

The post Champion Vequist Heads Ky Oaks Noms appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Champion Vequist Tops 106 Early Nominees To Kentucky Oaks

Champion 2-year-old filly Vequist, winner of the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (Grade 1), tops the roster of 106 early nominations to the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), North America's premier race for 3-year-old fillies that will be staged at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on Friday, April 30.

Owned in partnership by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swillcan Stable and trained by Butch Reid Jr., Vequist was a dominant two-length winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is based at Palm Meadows in South Florida and is entered in Saturday's $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

Other top contenders that were nominated to the Longines Kentucky Oaks include Stonestreet Stables' $300,000 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) winner Clairiere and OXO Equine's runner-up Travel Column; Harold Lerner, Magdalena Racing and Nehoc Stables' $350,000 Alcibiades (G1) winner Simply Ravishing; and Shadwell Stable's undefeated Malathaat.

Each of the 106 fillies nominated to the Oaks were made eligible by a $200 payment that was due Feb. 13. A complete list of nominations will be available at https://www.churchilldowns.com/horsemen/stakes/nominations/.

Trainer Todd Pletcher led all conditioners with nine fillies nominated to the Oaks followed by Kenny McPeek who had eight.

Fillies not nominated to the Kentucky Oaks can be made eligible through a $1,500 late fee due April 10 or a $25,000 supplemental nomination due at the time of entry. The Oaks field is limited to 14 starters and up to four fillies can be designated as “also-eligible” to start. Eligibility to compete is determined by points amassed during the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” point series.

Like the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, the Longines Kentucky Oaks has been run each year without interruption since 1875. The lucrative race is the centerpiece of a spectacular day of racing and entertainment at Churchill Downs that celebrates fashion, food, celebrity and fun with a focus on women's health issues and outreach.

Klaravich Stables' millionaire Digital Age (IRE) is nominated to attempt a repeat bid in this year's $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (Grade 1) on Saturday, May 1 at Churchill Downs.

The Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic, run at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course, annually attracts some of the nation's top turf horses. This year's race has 75 horses that were nominated. Previous winners include 2019 Horse of the Year and Champion Turf Male Bricks and Mortar; two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan; and Eclipse Award winners Manila, English Channel, Sky Classic and Paradise Creek. Einstein (BRZ) a Grade 1 winner on both dirt and turf, won back-to-back renewals in 2008-09.

Digital Age is one of 17 horses from trainer Chad Brown's stable nominated to the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic.

Another accomplished turf specialist nominated to this year's race is Robert and Lawana Low's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) winner Colonel Liam. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Colonal Liam joined six other stablemates on the nomination list.

In total, 13 Grade 1 winners were nominated to this year's Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic. The full list of nominations are available at https://www.churchilldowns.com/horsemen/stakes/nominations/.

The winner of the March 20 Muniz Memorial Handicap (G2) at Fair Grounds will be granted an automatic berth to the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic as well as the Arlington Million (G1). The winner of the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic also will be granted an automatic berth to the Arlington Million.

Horses nominated to the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic were made eligible by a $100 payment that was due Feb. 13. Horses not nominated can qualify through a $1,000 late fee due April 10 or a $20,000 supplemental nomination due at the time of entry on April 27. The race is limited to 14 starters with preference given to winners of graded turf stakes and, after that, highest earnings in stakes races on turf in 2020-21.

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Weekend Lineup: Trio Of Eclipse Award Winners Back In Action

Three Eclipse Award winners will be in action this weekend with reigning juvenile male champion Essential Quality – the top-ranked horse on the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll – headlining the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, champion 2-year-old filly Vequist making her seasonal bow in the Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and champion older dirt female Monomoy Girl getting her 6-year-old campaign started in Sunday's Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn. In addition, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Fire At Will is set to be part of the field of 10 in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, which will anchor Saturday's 14-race program with nine stakes at Gulfstream Park.

America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, will air eight total hours of live racing coverage this weekend encompassing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and Gulfstream Park.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will broadcast from 2-7 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS2, while Sunday will feature coverage on FS2 from 4-5 p.m. with FS1 airing the program from 5-7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 27

12:26 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

We Got This Stables' I Get It will go for her first graded-stakes victory in Saturday's Herecomesthebride, a 1 1/16-miles turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. I Get It has won four of her last five starts by a combined 14 ¾ lengths in going-away fashion while demonstrating an explosive late kick and a distinct fondness for the Gulfstream turf course. She broke through with a five-length maiden victory while not being equipped with the blinkers she wore in her first two unsuccessful starts. She came right back to capture a pair of optional claiming allowances at Gulfstream Park West before lacking her usual late kick in a fourth-place finish in the Jan. 2 Ginger Brew at Gulfstream. She bounced back with a sharp three-length optional claiming allowance score in her most recent start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA3-EQB.html

12:55 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

It's all about threes when trainer Mike Maker sends out the trio of Aquaphobia, Temple and Tide of the Sea in search of a third consecutive victory in Saturday's 1 3/8-miles Mac Diarmida for older turf horses. Aquaphobia became a Grade 1 winner in last summer's United Nations at Monmouth, coming five starts since being claimed for $62,500 last winter at Gulfstream and run at the Mac Diarmida distance. This will be the seventh consecutive race facing graded company for Aquaphobia, who exits an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA4-EQB.html

2:53 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Canadian Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

After two uncharacteristic off-the-board performances, Fancy Liquor steps right back into graded stakes company Saturday in the 54th running of Canadian Turf Stakes. Fancy Liquor, bred and owned by Louisville Ky.-based Skychai Racing and partners, had a very good 3-year-old season in 2020 for trainer Mike Maker. The son of Lookin at Lucky won three of eight starts – topped by a victory in the Grade 2 American Turf – and earned $497,187. His run of seven-straight in-the-money finishes to begin his career ended with a fifth in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream. In his most recent start, he was sixth in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA8-EQB.html

3:27 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer, who captured the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper, will seek to produce an encore performance in Saturday's Gulfstream Park Mile. 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. 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.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA9-EQB.html

4:20 p.m.—$600,000 Grade 3 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park on FS2 and TVG

Multiple graded stakes winner Owendale aims to halt a five-race skid when he faces six challengers in the 1 1/16-miles Razorback. Trained by Brad Cox, Owendale hasn't visited the winner's circle since taking the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs last May 23 but did finish third last time out in the Grade 1 Clark Stakes on Nov. 27. Among the top challengers the son of Into Mischief is set to face is Mystic Guide, winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes last year and runner-up in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup last October.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP022721USA7-EQB.html

4:29 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Grade 1 winner Got Stormy will begin her fifth and final season of racing Saturday in the one-mile Honey Fox for fillies and mares 4 and up. 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. Given a freshening following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 7, Get Stormy joined trainer Mark Casse's string at Palm Meadows, where she has breezed five times since mid-January.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA11-EQB.html

5:04 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

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 Davona Dale. Vequist, the 7-5 favorite in the Davona Dale, was the first champion for her trainer, Parx-based veteran Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr., who is approaching his 800th victory in a career that began in 1985. Vequist will be cutting back for her first race since a two-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 6 at Keeneland, a span of 114 days.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA12-EQB.html

5:36 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Heavenly Curlin, already a graded stakes winner on Woodbine's synthetic surface, will have another test on grass Saturday in the The Very One Stakes. Though her pedigree suggests that she ought to fancy turf, Gary Barber and John Oxley's 4-year-old filly, a $625,000 yearling purchase, is winless in her two tries on the surface, both at Gulfstream. In her most recent start, she was fifth in the Grade 3, 1 ½ miles La Prevayonte on Jan. 23. She will cut back in distance in The Very One to 1 3/16-miles.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA13-EQB.html

5:58 p.m.—$750,000 Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on FS2 and TVG

Godolphin's unbeaten homebred Essential Quality will be making his first start since clinching an Eclipse Award as the country's champion 2-year-old male in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile when he heads up the field for the Southwest Stakes, which offers 10 qualifying points to the winner on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Essential Quality earned his Eclipse Award after winning the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity Oct. 3 at Keeneland and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile there on Nov. 6. The son of Tapit will break from the rail in the 1 1/16-mile race. The Southwest and Bayakoa were originally scheduled to be run Feb. 15 before being postponed twice because of severe winter weather.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP022721USA10-EQB.html

6:10 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour, already a prime prospect on the strength of his dominating victory in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, will take a significant step along the Road to the Triple Crown in Saturday's Fountain of Youth, which distributes Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale to the top four finishers. Greatest Honour, who broke his maiden in his fourth career start Dec. 26 at Gulfstream, rallied from seventh in a field of nine to draw away by 5 ¾ lengths under Jose Ortiz in the 1 1/16-miles Holy Bull. The son of Tapit has shown trainer Shug McGaughey all the signs that he has moved forward in his training at Payson Park since his winning stakes debut.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA14-EQB.html

Sunday, Feb. 28

6:11 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park on FS1 and TVG

Two-time Eclipse Award champion Monomoy Girl will be making her first start since winning the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff when she begins her 6-year-old season as the heavy favorite in the Bayakoa Stakes. A winner of 13 of 15 career starts, Monomoy Girl was an Eclipse Award winner for champion 3-year-old filly in 2018 and captured champion older dirt female honors in 2020 after missing all of her 4-year-old season due to illness and injury. She drew the outside post 6 for the 1 1/16-mile Bayakoa, a major local prep for the $1 million, Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 17.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP022821USA9-EQB.html

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Champion Vequist Kicks Off Sophomore Season in Davona Dale

Eleven rivals will be waiting to take on recently crowned champion Vequist (Nyquist) in Saturday's GII Davona Dale S. going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park.

The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine, campaigned in partnership by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and breeder Swilcan Stable, earned her diploma at second asking with a daylight tally in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. Sept. 6. Second behind Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) as the 4-5 favorite in the GI Frizette S. at Belmont Oct. 10, she turned the tables on that rival with a two-length upset tally at 6-1 on the big stage at Keeneland most recently Nov. 6.

The Davona Dale 7-5 morning-line favorite has drawn post three. Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride.

“It was a box that I was never sure that I would check, training a champion, so it was nice to get that accomplished,” trainer Butch Reid, Jr. 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.”

Reid added, “I expect her to run well. 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.”

Juddmonte homebred Millefeuille (Curlin), from the loaded female family of Broodmare of the Year Toussaud (El Gran Senor), has the look of a potential upsetter.

A smart maiden winner at second asking going this same distance at Belmont Oct. 23, she just got reeled in late by the unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) after enjoying a clear lead in the stretch in the nine-furlong GII Demoiselle S. over a sloppy track last time Dec. 5. The bay fired a four-furlong warning shot in :48 4/5 (1/9) at Hall of Famer Bill Mott's Payson base Feb. 14.

Curlin's Catch (Curlin) looks to stay perfect on dirt while riding a two-race winning streak. After earning her diploma over track and trip at third asking Jan. 3, the Breeze Easy runner took care of business in Tampa's Suncoast S. most recently Feb. 6.

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