Vequist

Last week's major development was the win by Clairiere (Curlin) in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. presented by Fasig-Tipton, where she won a hard-fought decision over Travel Column (Frosted). With the victory, she has jumped up to the No. 2 spot in our rankings. She also becomes the third daughter of Curlin to make it into the Top 10 and a fourth, Millefeuille (Curlin), is knocking on the door for the Bill Mott stable. The other big change this week is that Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) drops out. While the connections...

It's remarkable what people can do nowadays. The company co-founded by Tom McGrath converts glass bottles into lightweight construction aggregate. This stuff starts out as curbside recycling, your emptied beers and so on, and ends up supporting you as you drive over a bridge. But then there's nothing like raising and racing Thoroughbreds to show the latent capacities lurking in refuse material. Because Vequist (Nyquist), the champion juvenile filly homebred by McGrath's Swilcan Stable, was rejected in the ring twice over. The first time, she was in utero when her...

In the month since we last served up a TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10, there have been a number of stakes for 3-year-old fillies, but not a lot of movement on our list. Sun Path (Munnings) drops off the list after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Silverbulletday and we'll wait to include Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo) until she has her first official workout in 2021. Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) came out of last weekend looking like the top threat from the West after her win in the GIII Las...

Vequist (Nyquist) cemented her status as the leader of what appeared to be an open division earlier in the fall with a decisive score in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 6. The dark bay finished second in her July 29 debut at Parx, but her connections clearly had plenty of faith in her after that effort, sending her to Saratoga for the GI Spinaway S. Sept. 6. She demolished the field that day, earning her diploma by 9 1/2 lengths and becoming her freshman sire's first Grade I...

With the year having just begun, it will take a while for the picture for the GI Kentucky Oaks to come into focus. For now, the fillies who thrived last year dominate this Top 10 list, but that can, and likely will, change as the calendar works its way toward the first Friday in May and new names emerge in the major preps for the Oaks. It is, at the very least, a solid group, headed by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Vequist, who will be named the champion...

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stables's Vequist (Nyquist) put an exclamation point on a very strong freshman season for her sire (by Uncle Mo)--a winner of the track-and-trip GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2015--while posting a mild 6-1 upset in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The market's fifth choice behind the unbeaten foursome of 'TDN Rising Star' Princess Noor (Not This Time), GI Frizette S. victoress Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief), local GI Darley Alcibiades S. heroine Simply Ravishing (Laoban) and 'Rising Star' Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo) broke alertly and...

Fasig-Tipton continues to add supplements to its upcoming November sale, scheduled to be held Sunday, Nov. 8, and the most recent include a dam of a Grade I winner and the half-sister to a recent 2-year-old Grade I winner. Afleet Maggi (hip 281), a winning daughter of Afleet Alex from the family of GI Travers S. winner Golden Ticket (Speightstown), is the dam of 2017 GI Starlet S. winner Dream Tree (Uncle Mo). Dream Tree's four black-type wins also included the GII Prioress S. and GII Las Virgenes S. Afleet...

Vequist (Nyquist) was ultra-impressive when earning her diploma in the GI Spinaway S. Sept. 6 and looks to replicate that performance at Belmont Saturday in the GI Frizette S., which grants the winner a spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Missing by just a nose in her 4 1/2-panel unveiling at Parx July 29, the dark bay graduated in style with a dominant 9 1/2-length success in Saratoga's Spinaway. "She has to confirm it; anybody can do it once," Butch Reid said. "You have to...

Vequist (Nyquist) suffered a nose defeat when debuting going 4 1/2 furlongs at Parx, but found no equals when stepped up into the GI Spinaway S. Sunday at Saratoga, pressing a fast pace and romping clear impressively in the stretch to break her maiden in the first Grade I race of the year for juveniles. Unveiled as a tepid favorite July 29 in Bensalem for owner/breeder Swilcan Stables, the bay chased a wire to wire winner throughout and just missed when taking a final dive at her foe nearing the...