Pedigree Bodes Well for Vedareo in Big A's Frizette

A key concern for the trainer of a promising 2-year-old centers on distance and how far that youngster can carry its speed.

Butch Reid Jr. had none of those fears with Swilcan Stable's 2-year-old filly Vedareo . Memories of just a couple years ago assured him of her capabilities at a route.

In Vedareo, Reid is training a half sister to his horse of a lifetime, Vequist , Swilcan's homebred daughter of Nyquist   who provided him with his lone grade 1 Breeders' Cup victory when she captured the 2020 Juvenile Fillies (G1) at 1 1/16 miles and was named the champion 2-year-old filly.

Already Reid's beliefs have proved to be astute as in her third start the Daredevil   filly won the one-mile Sorority Stakes at Monmouth Park Aug. 21 at a two-turn configuration.

"Even the lesser ones in the family were two-turn horses and Vedareo's mother (Vero Amore) was a two-turn horse losing by a (neck) in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2). It's definitely in the pedigree. Distance will not be a problem for her," Reid said.

The homebred filly will be following the same path as her illustrious sister by running Oct. 2 against six rivals in the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1) for 2-year-old fillies at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet, the same "Win and You're In" mile-long race in which Vequist finished second prior to her triumph in the Breeders' Cup.

"She came out of the Sorority fine and we're now looking forward to the Frizette," Reid said. "We got the two-turn race into her. Now we can cut back a little bit, hopefully sharpen her speed and maybe get a free 'Win and You're In' spot for the Breeders' Cup. We're looking forward to seeing her against the big girls."

Reid says the two sisters are already similar in a number of ways.

"They are very much the same, though Vedareo is a little more high-strung and puts more into her training," Reid said. "In racing, they have the same mentality and they both ship well."

Both siblings have already traveled similar roads with both debuting at Parx Racing and Vequist finishing second and Vedareo winning. After that, both moved on to Saratoga Race Course for a stakes engagement, though the results were as different as night and day. Vequist won by a whopping 9 1/2 lengths in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) while Vedareo bobbled at the break and was bumped in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3). Unable to flash her early speed, she wound up fifth, 10 1/2 lengths behind.

"In general, Parx horses had trouble with Saratoga, with the track being so deep there," Reid said. "I don't think she was fit enough for the Schuylerville. She had galloped in her debut and trained at Parx, and she didn't help herself by stumbling out of the gate. I was shocked to see her so far back."

Reid went to an old playbook in opting for the one-turn Frizette over the longer two-turn 1 1/16-mile Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) Oct. 7 at Keeneland, home of the 2022 Breeders' Cup.

"We thought about Keeneland but it works out so much better in New York," Reid said. "From Parx, we're in close proximity and can come the day of the race. I think she'll handle Aqueduct well and this path worked out well for her sister and we're hoping to have the same magic."

Coming from a family of six foals that features five runners and five winners, Vedareo is also a half sister to the 3-year-old filly Mainstay , a daughter of Astern   who was second in the 2021 Schuylerville and is currently sidelined. Swilcan and Reid have already reaped numerus rewards from a mare who was bought for just $15,000 and earned $252,255, but sadly the success story has only a few chapters left. Vero Amore passed away earlier this year, leaving an Accelerate   yearling filly as her last offspring.

"You don't see too many like her," Reid said about Vero Amore. "We really miss her. She was a great mare; definitely a blue hen mare."

Vedareo will need a performance worthy of her champion sister Sunday against a talented assembling of rivals.

Leave No Trace  was a convincing 1 1/2-length winner of the seven-furlong Spinaway for trainer Phil Serpe as the daughter of Outwork   won in a manner that bodes well for her chances of handling an additional furlong with aplomb.

"She came out of the Spinaway great and she put in an exceptional work last week," Serpe said about the filly bred by Red Cloak Farm and purchased for $40,000 from the Vinery Sales consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale. "She worked well within herself and we're pretty excited about running Sunday."

The field also includes American Rockette  (American Pharoah  ), who was a troubled fourth in the Spinaway, and four maiden winners in Raging Sea  (Curlin  ), Chocolate Gelato  (Practical Joke  ), The Great Maybe  (Upstart  ), and the New York-bred You're My Girl  (Overanalyze ).

Repole Stable's Chocolate Gelato is exiting an 8 1/2-length victory at Saratoga in which she covered six furlongs in 1:10.30 for trainer Todd Pletcher, earning the top Beyer Speed Figure in the field (92).

Entries: Frizette S. (G1)

Belmont at the Big A, Sunday, October 02, 2022, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1m
• Dirt
• $400,000
• 2 yo Fillies
• 4:41 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Leave No Trace (KY)	Jose Lezcano	120	Philip M. Serpe	9/2
2	2American Rockette (KY)	Junior Alvarado	120	William I. Mott	6/1
3	3Raging Sea (KY)	Flavien Prat	120	Chad C. Brown	6/1
4	4Chocolate Gelato (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	120	Todd A. Pletcher	9/5
5	5Vedareo (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	120	Robert E. Reid, Jr.	15/1
6	6The Great Maybe (KY)	Javier Castellano	120	Cherie DeVaux	7/2
7	7You're My Girl (NY)	Joel Rosario	120	John P. Terranova, II	5/1