Velazquez teams up with Fipke again in Go for Wand

Joining trainer Dallas Stewart and owner Charles Fipke in a run of Grade 1 success in November was John Velazquez, who guided Forever Unbridled to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Seeking the Soul to an upset score in the Clark Handicap.

Velazquez actually joined the team when he guided Eskenformoney past the Fipke-owned Verve’s Tale in the last jump of the Grade 3 Turnback the Alarm on Oct. 28. Joel Rosario had ridden Verve’s Tale and her trainer, Barclay Tagg, felt he moved too soon in that race.

“She’s got a good kick, but if you move at the three-eighths pole she’s not going to sustain it,” Tagg said.

Two days after the Turnback the Alarm, Fipke fired Rosario from Forever Unbridled and put Velazquez on that mare, though he would eventually have to pay both jockeys the same fee for the race. Fipke also put Velazquez on Seeking the Soul, who had been ridden to an allowance victory by Brian Hernandez Jr. in his previous start.

Saturday, Velazquez will be aboard Verve’s Tale in the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand Handicap going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. On Sunday, Verve’s Tale worked a half-mile in 48 seconds over Belmont’s main track.

“It was a little faster than I wanted, but it’s better than too slow I guess,” Tagg said.

Last year, Verve’s Tale recorded a 20-1 upset in the Grade 3 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct. The Go for Wand field is expected to include Going for Broke, Indulgent, Jamyson ’n Ginger, Flora Dora, and Lucy N Ethel. Highway Star, last year’s Go for Wand winner, and Julerette are possibles.