Vertical Oak Claims Garland of Roses
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher
Vertical Oak wins the Garland of Roses Stakes over Yorkiepoo Princess at Aqueduct Racetrack
Kirk and Judy Robison's Vertical Oak continued her upward trajectory Dec. 8 with a 1 1/4-length victory in the $100,000 Garland of Roses Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.
With a 4-1-3 record from eight starts this season, the 4-year-old daughter of Giant Oak has seen the winner's circle at Pimlico Race Course, Churchill Downs, and now Aqueduct. Trainer Steve Asmussen sent her to the Garland of Roses off a sharp Nov. 4 victory in Churchill's Dream Supreme Stakes, and she went off as the heavy favorite in a field reduced to four with the scratch of Dream Pauline.
Patiently piloted by jockey Eric Cancel, Vertical Oak settled off an early speed duel before she made her winning move in Saturday's six-furlong test. Yorkiepoo Princess, fresh off a victory in the Nov. 25 Autumn Days Stakes at Aqueduct, set a swift early tempo and marked the quarter-mile in :22.26 and the half in :45.69 while under pressure from last-out Pumpkin Pie Stakes winner Sower.
Vertical Oak, third in the early running, was angled wide at the top of the lane to take a half-length lead and had more than enough in reserve to earn the victory in a final time of 1:11.28. Yorkiepoo Princess stayed on strong to complete the exacta, a length in front of Sower. Tigalalu completed the order of finish.
The consistent Vertical Oak now boasts a 9-3-4 record from 21 starts, seven of those scores in stakes competition, highlighted by a win in the Prioress Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.
"She's gotten better with age. She settled really well and ran great. She's put a bunch of races together now really nicely," said assistant trainer Toby Sheets. "She's been in New York and won last year at Saratoga and has trained well here. She likes it here. She likes it everywhere, just about."
Cancel said all went according to plan in the compact feature event.
"I had a wonderful trip," Cancel said. "I knew that the two horses on the inside, they were going to come out of there running. I had her planned just to sit right off of them, and that was it. It worked out very well."
Vertical Oak, bred in Kentucky by Millennium Farms out of the Pollard's Vision mare Vertical Vision, was a $20,000 purchase by her connections from her breeder's consignment to Fasig-Tipton's The October Sale in 2015. The Garland of Roses win improved her earnings to $771,595.