Dayoutoftheoffice unlikely for Davona Dale; Vequist on schedule

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A hoped-for rematch between the first two finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies will probably have to wait a little longer.

Vequist, who was voted the champion 2-year-old filly of 2020 after winning the BC Juvenile Fillies, remains on schedule for the Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park, but the runner-up, Dayoutoftheoffice, is “very questionable” to make the Feb. 27 race, trainer Tim Hamm said Wednesday.

Dayoutoftheoffice has not breezed since Jan. 24 at Tampa Bay Downs, where the speedy Into Mischief filly is training this winter.

“She’s doing fine, coming along at her own pace,” said Hamm. “We’re being careful with her, just like when she had her big season last year.

“We haven’t pinpointed any particular race or time to start her back. We might go in the Oaklawn race,” the March 6 Honeybee, “or we might even wait for the Ashland” on April 3 at Keeneland. “The Kentucky Oaks is our first main goal with the filly, very much.”

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Dayoutoftheoffice was a flashy winner of her career debut in May at Gulfstream before sweeping through the Grade 3 Schuylverville and Grade 1 Frizette in New York. She then was second after leading most of the way in the Nov. 6 BC Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. Hamm owns her in partnership with Siena Farm, her breeder.

Meanwhile, trainer Butch Reid said Vequist is on target for the one-mile Davona Dale, with a fourth breeze since the filly returned from a brief rest scheduled for Saturday at the Palm Meadows training center.

Honorifique also is questionable for the Davona Dale after being scratched last Saturday from the Suncoast at Tampa after spiking a temperature, according to trainer Eddie Kenneally.

“It was disappointing to have to come out of there because she’d been doing so well,” said Kenneally.

Honorifique was a late-closing second in her last start, the Cash Run at Gulfstream, a Jan. 1 race won by Gulf Coast. Trainer Rudy Brisset also scratched Gulf Coast out of the Suncoast, sending her out instead to a runner-up finish in the Ruthless on Monday at Aqueduct.

Girl Daddy, another top horse in the division, also is behind schedule after recently taking sick. Girl Daddy was beaten a nose by Dayoutoftheoffice when third in the BC Juvenile Fillies.

The Davona Dale, a 50-20-10-5 points qualifier for the April 30 Kentucky Oaks, will be one of nine graded stakes on a huge Feb. 27 card highlighted by the Fountain of Youth.

◗ Unlike in recent years, there will be no holiday card at Gulfstream this coming Monday, Presidents Day.