Vertical Oak Splashes to Victory in Skipat Stakes
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Photo: Rick Samuels
Vertical Oak wins the Skipat Stakes
Vertical Oak found the sloppy going at Pimlico Race Course to her liking May 18, as the 4-year-old filly wore down pacesetter Ms Locust Point to post a 1 1/2-length victory in the $100,000 Skipat Stakes.
With the field of fillies and mares for the six-furlong test reduced to five by three scratches, Ms Locust Point took the lead at the outset while prompted by Vertical Oak and jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., and from there it was a two-horse race.
Ms Locust Point, winner of the Feb. 17 Barbara Fritchie (G2) over a muddy track at Laurel Park two races back, took the field through a half-mile in :46.31. With the leaders unchanged entering the stretch, Vertical Oak took command nearing the three-sixteenths pole and continued on to the wire. Startwithsilver snuck in along the rail late to secure second from Ms Locust Point.
Vertical Oak completed the distance in 1:10.35, and returned $4.60, $2.80, and $2.10 as the second choice.
"I had a pretty good trip," Santana siad. "She did everything right and responded when I asked her. I had won on her before (maiden victory at Saratoga and optional claiming win at Churchill Downs), but this is my first stakes win with her. She's a nice filly."
A daughter of Giant Oak trained by Steve Asmussen for J. Kirk and Judy Robison, Vertical Oak improved to 6-2-2 in 15 starts, with earnings of $521,700. Vertical Oak entered the Skipat off a third-place finish in the Carousel Stakes over a sloppy track at Oaklawn Park in her 2018 debut.
The filly's three victories from four starts on off tracks includes last year's Prioress Stakes (G2) over a sloppy track at Saratoga Race Course. In addition to the Prioress, Vertical Oak won last year's Adena Springs Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) at Pimlico and the Goldfinch Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
"She's a nice filly," Asmussen said. "She's run super races on an off racetrack. The draw was great for her and so was the result. She won the Miss Preakness here last year and this was the target. We hope she has a very good year. And now she'll likely head to New York."
The Skipat was the first race of the year in the fillies and mares dirt sprint division of the MATCH (Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships) Series that offers bonuses for owners, trainers, and breeders based on performance in stakes races through mid-September.
Bred in Kentucky by Millennium Farms, Vertical Oak was purchased by her owners for $20,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale.