La Verdad Appears Formidable in Vagrancy

Just more than a month after opening her 2015 season by defending her title in the Distaff Handicap (gr. II) at Aqueduct Racetrack, speedy La Verdad will try to pick up her second graded stakes win this season May 16 in the $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap (gr. III) at Belmont Park.

The four other older fillies and mares expected to face Lady Sheila Stable's La Verdad likely won't have to worry about a change in strategy from La Verdad, who led at every call in her six wins last year and her opening score this season. The 5-year-old daughter of Yes It's True  , with regular jockey Jose Ortiz scheduled to ride, has drawn the inside post for Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong test.

"She's coming into the race well," said Linda Rice, who trains La Verdad. "I think the last race tightened her up a little bit. I struggled to get her into that race, but obviously she won very impressively. Hopefully we can keep moving forward and have another good year with her."

According to Rice, bigger races may be in La Verdad's future following the Vagrancy, as she looks to bolster her resume in what will likely be her final year of racing.

"With a filly like her—she'll be going to the breeding shed next fall—if we could get her a grade I win this year, that'd be the ultimate goal," Rice said.

An added hurdle for La Verdad Saturday will be the handicap conditions that have her scheduled to carry the high weight of 121 pounds, which will be from 5 to 9 pounds more than any other expected starter.

The field also features Shadwell Stable homebred Mamdooha, who finished third in the Distaff; David Jacobson's Room for Me, who has won three straight at three different tracks this season; Distaff runner-up Frivolity, who is campaigned by Jacobson, Drawing Away Stable, and James Costabile; and Cheyenne Stables' Sustainable, who enters off a fourth-place finish in the Primonetta Stakes April 18 at Pimlico Race Course.