Queen's Plate 2022: Vassilieva getting second shot at the big time
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Katerina Vassilieva already had a hectic life when Rondure blossomed into a Queen’s Plate contender, which has made it even busier while putting her in the racing spotlight for the second time in her 11-year training career.
Vassilieva was on the 2014 Kentucky Derby trail with Big Bazinga, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass. Big Bazinga didn’t make the Derby, but Vassilieva said she learned a lot on the road to Churchill Downs.
“I don’t think I was ready for it at that point, mentally or in terms of experience,” Vassilieva explained. “I didn’t really know how to handle the pressure or how to train that type of a horse. He was a very difficult, challenging horse – nervous and reactive, even dangerous to himself. I can’t believe we did all that traveling and everything that we did with him, but it was a great experience.”
Rondure graduated impressively in his first start for Vassilieva on May 14. He just missed winning his next race in another seven-furlong Tapeta sprint in the June 12 Queenston Stakes. On July 2, Rondure won the Grade 3 Marine by 5 1/2 lengths while earning a huge 96 Beyer Speed Figure under Rafael Hernandez.
The Marine was the first graded stakes score for Vassilieva, who said she was surprised by the ease of Rondure’s victory.
“It was his first time going two turns,” she pointed out. “I had a feeling he would run well, but I didn’t know he was going to win that easily. It proved to me that he’s a legitimately nice horse. He’s a muscular, boxy type, and not a horse you would typically say looks like a long-distance or route horse. From the last race, it seems like that wasn’t the bottom of him, that he could go farther.”
Vassilieva said she doesn’t regret bypassing the July 24 Plate Trial Stakes with Rondure and loves the seven-week gap between the Marine and the $1 million Queen’s Plate going 1 1/4 miles here Aug. 21.
“I felt like it was a really good decision at the time when I made it,” Vassilieva explained. “We were coming back quickly between the Queenston and the Marine. I didn’t even work him in between. I thought I was rushing him a little bit, and after running such a big race, I wanted a fresh horse going into the Queen’s Plate. I still think it was a good decision, but it has its own challenges now. Keeping his level of fitness right where it was and not overtraining him or letting his fitness fall.”
Vassilieva said Flavien Prat has committed to ride Rondure in the Queen’s Plate after Hernandez chose Woodbine Oaks winner Moira for the race. Prat rode One Bad Boy to victory in the 2019 Plate.
A son of Oxbow, Rondure is owned by Harry Dobson and Hazel Bennett’s Border Racing Stable.
Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Vassilieva came to Canada with her family when she was 7 and grew up in Toronto and suburban Mississauga.
“Nobody in my family had anything to do with horses, but I always loved them from a really young age,” she said. “I started riding lessons when I was 11. I always wanted to be around horses – ride them, take care of them, learn more about them. It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I ventured to the racetrack.”
Vassilieva studied forensic biology at McMaster University while working at Woodbine as an exercise rider for trainer Reade Baker.
“That worked out really well,” Vassilieva recalled. “I’d get done early in the mornings and then I’d work on my university degree. It was research-based. I could do it on my own time and design my own schedule. I finished in three years – got my Masters in developmental biology. And then I took off to Florida to gallop racehorses. I half-heartedly tried to get a job at the Center of Forensic Sciences, but it didn’t work out. Horses are what I loved anyways.”
Vassilieva had a successful stint as trainer Mike Pino’s Woodbine assistant before going out on her own in 2011.
Vassilieva turned 40 Aug. 5, but looks closer to 30. A busy mother to 5-year-old Evan, Vassilieva has a flourishing 20-horse stable at Woodbine and said she rarely has time for herself.
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“If I’m not here at the barn, then I’m with my son,” Vassilieva said. “I find myself wanting more time to myself, but I love what I do, so I make it work.”
Vassilieva said her family brought in four members from her stepmother’s Ukrainian family to live with them after they fled the country during the war with Russia. Included among them is her 14-year-old nephew, Tihon Brusnika, who walks hots for her at Woodbine.
“He’s a good hand around the barn and he loves it,” Vassilieva said. “They knew nothing about horse racing when they came here three months ago. Rondure broke his maiden around that time, and we went on this exciting journey together. They’ve been having fun coming to the races. I feel better now that they’re here and out of harm’s way.
“I’m glad Rondure came at this time for us all to have him to focus on. They went from not knowing anything about racing to now we have this big horse getting ready for Canada’s biggest race. It’s great to have them along for the ride.”