2020 Eclipse Awards: Vekoma
A Grade 3 winner at 2 and a Grade 2 winner at 3, Vekoma continued his ascent at age 4, winning a pair of Grade 1 races to land as a finalist in two categories, for champion older dirt male and champion male sprinter.
Vekoma proved himself adept at two turns at age 3, when he won the Blue Grass Stakes. But after finishing well back in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, trainer George Weaver gave him a lengthy vacation, and he came back in 2020 better than ever while kept to one-turn races. He won all three of his starts, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of at least 102 each time, and won both the seven-furlong Runhappy Carter Handicap and the prestigious Runhappy Met Mile, both at Belmont Park.
Vekoma returned to action in March following a layoff of nearly 11 months, and served notice of what was to come with a dominating victory in the seven-furlong Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream Park on the Florida Derby undercard. Because regular rider Javier Castellano was sidelined after testing positive for coronavirus, Vekoma was ridden by Manny Franco, who later that day won the Florida Derby on Tiz the Law.
The suspension of racing in New York owing to the pandemic caused Vekoma to have to wait until June 6 to compete again, by which time Castellano was back in action. Racing over a sloppy track, Vekoma romped by 7 1/4 lengths in the Carter, earning his first Grade 1 victory with a career-best Beyer of 110.
:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
“Early on he stamped himself as special when he won the Blue Grass and got us on the Derby trail,” Weaver said after the race to Daily Racing Form. “The performance today, that’s about as impressive as you’re going to get. He freaked out on them today. I know how special he is, but they still got to go out and prove it by doing something like that in the afternoon.”
The Met Mile always is a high point of the racing year. This year, it was postponed from its spot on the Belmont Stakes card to July 4, two weeks after the rescheduled Belmont and four weeks after the Carter. Vekoma used his speed to take the lead from an inside draw, put away pace-presser Warrior’s Charge, and held safe Network Effect and Code of Honor in a swift 1:32.88, with a final quarter in 23.31 seconds.
Vekoma was pointed to the Breeders’ Cup, and was entered in the Sprint – for which he was the morning-line favorite – but he was scratched after Weaver said he spiked a fever. He was subsequently retired to Spendthrift Farm, which had acquired his breeding rights in July.
Vekoma, by Candy Ride out of the Speightstown mare Mona de Momma, was bred by Alpha Delta Stables and was sold as a yearling to Randy Hill for $135,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September sale. He raced for Hill and Gatsas Stable.