Vequist out for at least rest of the year

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Although she’s entered in Tuesday’s mile and 70-yard Cathryn Sophia Stakes at Parx Racing, Vequist was going to return from a six-month layoff in a seven-furlong allowance dash here Thursday.

But Vequist will not run in either race after coming up with another issue that has ended her abbreviated 3-year-old campaign and put her racing career in doubt.

“She had a minor setback coming out of her last work and will be off for rest of the year,” trainer Butch Reid confirmed Monday.

Vequist won 2 of 4 starts last year during her championship 2-year-old campaign, winning her maiden in the Grade 1 Spinaway before clinching the 2-year-old championship with her victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland two months later. She started just once this year, finishing ninth in the Grade 2 Davona Dale on Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

Sent to the sidelines after the Davona Dale, and with her comeback further delayed a couple of times by minor problems, Vequist came to Saratoga. She worked five times this summer, including a half-mile in 48.20 seconds on Aug. 15. Reid said the Cathryn Sophia was a back-up for Vequist in case the race here Thursday did not fill.

“I heard the allowance race here Thursday went, but I can’t even bring myself to look at it and see who’s in there,” Reid said. “It’s very frustrating because she’s such a nice filly and had been training so magnificently since she got up here to Saratoga.”