Vasilika Travels to the Top in Rodeo Drive

Former claimer Vasilika continued her remarkable ascent Sept. 29 at Santa Anita Park, where she topped a seven-race win streak with a half-length victory in the $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1T) and tossed her hat in the ring for a Breeders' Cup bid.

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who picked up the 4-year-old Skipshot  filly in February for $40,000 in her first Southern California start, modestly chalked her success up to luck.

"We were looking for a horse to put in the barn and ended up getting her, and we got the luck of it," he said after Vasilika closed from fourth and held off grade 2 winner Paved in Saturday's 1 1/4-mile test. "We were just looking for a horse that can win a race. I think there are no secrets to this. Sometimes horses get good, they go to a different spot, and get better for one reason or another. It doesn't mean that we did a better job. It's just she likes it better where she is right now." 

But co-owner Dan Gatto, who races Vasilika in partnership with the trainer, George Todaro, and All Schlaich Stables, isn't buying what Hollendorfer is selling where luck is concerned. He said the filly's improvement comes down to her trainer—and groceries.

"The thing that Jerry has really done well with her is her weight," Gatto said. "She was the highest weight in the field today at 1,000 pounds and that's all to his credit. When we first got her off the claim, she needed the weight put on. He knew what to do with the right nutrients and therapy. The horse, of course, gets the credit, but Jerry is right there getting credit, because just a great job."

Last time out, Vasilika took the Sept. 1 John C. Mabee Stakes (G2T) going 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar with a strong rally over favored Cambodia to secure her first graded score. On Saturday the two faced off again, both at odds of 8-5, but this time with Vasilika the slight favorite in an eight-horse field, and jockey Flavien Prat found Vasilika a good outside stalking position in fourth while Cambodia pressed the pace set by longshot Tisbutadream.

After a quarter in :23.61 and a half in :46.78, Cambodia took over from the tiring frontrunner through three-quarters in 1:10.42, and Prat gave Vasilika the signal to chase with a three-wide move around the turn. After a mile in 1:34.88, Vasilika had plenty of run left in her first try at the distance, as she wrested the lead from Cambodia and held off Paved's game run. Cambodia settled for third, another half-length back, behind a final time of 1:59.04 on firm turf.  

"She is super easy to handle," said Prat, who has been aboard for all seven wins in Vasilika's streak. "I knew once she switched leads, we were going to catch Cambodia. I saw (Paved), but we kept on going. This horse keeps getting better and better. She doesn't quit and she's got a ton of foot."

But that's just the Southern California chapter of Vasilika's story. 

Bred by Mikhail Yanakov, out of the Marquetry mare La Belle Marquet, the chestnut filly began her career on the Florida circuit for Yanakov's Olympia Star operation. She first changed hands for a $25,000 tag in January of 2017, and again was claimed for that price in March of that year. By August she was racing for a $40,000 tag at Saratoga Race Course, and she stayed on the New York circuit until Robert Falcone Jr. and Drawing Away Stable picked her up for $32,000 in November.

When Falcone embarked upon an adventure to the West Coast, Vasilika was in his string for one start—the Feb. 11 mile turf allowance/optional claimer in which the savvy Hollendorfer and connections struck. The filly now has earnings of $620,595, with a 12-4-3 record in 26 starts.

"You're never sure in this game," Gatto said. "This is my very first grade 1. ... We had a horse by the name of Parranda and she lost this race by a half-length in 2014. 

"This is really good redemption. This feels good. That stretch run was fantastic. She's got such an amazing turn of foot."

Of modest beginnings—she is by far the best performer for her sire, a Skip Away stallion who stood the 2018 season at Considine Farm near Paris, Ky., for a private fee—Vasilika is not Breeders' Cup nominated. But the Rodeo Drive is a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event for the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Churchill Downs, earning the filly a guaranteed berth should her connections choose to go.

"We'll probably talk about it," Hollendorfer said. "We're not nominated, but I think it's feasible to nominate her. We'll have to do our homework and see if we're going to do that."

Video: Rodeo Drive S. (G1T)