Aqueduct: La Verdad cruises in Broadway Stakes

La Verdad looked like the fastest filly on paper and was in truth the fastest filly on the racetrack in Saturday’s $100,000 Broadway Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares.

Sprinting clear at the break, La Verdad ($3.60) was kept a bit off the rail as she splashed through early fractions of 22.80 and 46.26 seconds and remained comfortably in front, despite drifting out slightly late under left-handed pressure from Jose Ortiz.

“It was easy company here,” Ortiz said. “She handled the [sloppy track] very good.”

La Verdad, who was shortening up from a placing in the seven-furlong Barbara Fritchie, has now won six in a row at six furlongs for trainer Linda Rice, all by open lengths. In notching her first stakes victory, the 4-year-old daughter of Yes It’s True ran the distance in 1:11.55 over a sloppy main track.

“I wanted to use this race as a prep for the [Grade 2] Distaff on April 19, and I was a little shocked at how tough it came up,” Rice said. “I was concerned I didn’t have her quite tight enough for today; Jose said she was blowing a little bit, but she should be better next time. I didn’t want to have her ‘over the top’ for the Grade 2.”

La Verdad’s final margin was 3 1/4 lengths over Hot Rendezvous, who finished well to edge last year’s Broadway winner, Sunny Desert, for the runner-up spot by a head. Make the Moment rallied mildly to finish fourth.

Risky Rachel, the 2012 Broadway winner, faded to last in the field of eight.