Vequist Named Champion 2-Year-Old Filly

More often than not, a score in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) earns a championship. Vequist won the 2020 version, and the Eclipse Award, but she proved to be much more than a one-trick pony.

The daughter of first-crop sire Nyquist , himself a champion 2-year-old, showed brilliance from the start and became a grade 1 winner two months before the Nov. 6-7 World Championships at Keeneland. A clear-cut Breeders' Cup victory was the icing on a championship cake.

Bred in Kentucky by Tom McGrath's Swilcan Stables with advice coming from Freddy Seitz of Brookdale Farm, Vequist received her early training with Robert "Butch" Reid Jr. at Parx Racing.

"We get 10-15 fillies each year, and you could tell she was a little different from the rest of them. She was a cut above," he said.

Following her debut, in which she ran second going 4 1/2 furlongs, owners Adam Wachtel and Gary Barber expressed interest in the filly.

"You're not used to getting calls after you lose a race," McGrath said. "These guys are the top of the game. I have a small outfit, so I was flattered first of all, for those two are big players in the game."

A deal was made, and with McGrath's insistence, the filly remained in Reid's care. Reid had wanted to run at Saratoga Race Course first of all, so she was shipped to the Spa where she ran lights-out, taking the seven-furlong Spinaway Stakes (G1) by 9 1/2 lengths.

Another furlong figured to make little difference, so she was sent after Belmont's Oct. 10 Frizette Stakes (G1) at a one-turn mile. Pinned inside while running down the backstretch as the 9-10 favorite, she was unable to catch Dayoutoftheoffice in the lane, finishing second. Telling was the fact the third-place finisher was 10 1/4 lengths farther back.

Vequist faced four unbeaten fillies in the Breeders' Cup. Stalking rival Dayoutoftheoffice, she was again inside, but rider Joel Rosario and the gritty filly kicked through along the fence, drew clear, and won by two lengths.

"It was an amazing experience," Reid said of the Breeders' Cup score. "I've watched it at least 100 times. Neither she or Joel blinked when they pushed through that tight spot."

Vequist, out of the grade 2-placed Vero Amore (by Mineshaft ), won twice in 2020, both at the grade 1 level. That's the stuff of champions.