Vive Veuve splits horses twice to take Sanibel Island

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday didn’t start out well for trainer Jack Sisterson as he had to scratch longshot Seminole Chief from the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby because he wasn’t comfortable with the way the 3-year-old was moving Saturday morning.

“We try to pay attention to detail and he wasn’t his usual self and at any type of level, we just want to take no risks at all,” Sisterson said. “It’s unfortunate, but the horse is going to be fine.”

The day got better for Sisterson when the 3-year-old filly Vive Veuve split horses in the stretch under Javier Castellano and outfinished race favorite Ozara to win the $125,000 Sanibel Island by three-quarters of a length at Gulfstream Park. Ozara was a nose better than Destiny Star, who finished a head in front of Hello Hollywood.

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Vive Veuve, a daughter of Collected, came to Sisterson last fall after going winless in three starts in Ireland for trainer Emmet Mullins. After running third in November over synthetic, Vive Veuve won a one-mile maiden turf race and now has won two straight races.

“She put herself in this race, the way she trained out of her last,” Sisterson said. “If any horse could talk and say step me up in grade, this was this filly today. She trained extremely and she showed that she could compete at this level in the afternoon.”

Vive Veuve was eighth early, but only about four lengths off the pace in a tightly-compacted field that was going a modest clip.

Castellano twice had to split horses, first leaving the five-sixteenths pole and then again in the stretch when Vive Veuve went between Destiny Star and Pharoah’s Wine and outfooted a four-wide rallying Ozara to the wire.

“At the three-sixteenths pole, that’s where it got really tight, no place to go. I had to take a shot, I had to be aggressive and time it right,” Castellano said. “I saw those two horses, one lugging in, one getting out, I just had to time it right and everything worked out perfect, she went through and was able to get it done.”

Vive Veuve, owned by Kevin Bogart’s Sterling Stables, covered the 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:28.44 and returned $35.60.

Sisterson said he would likely point Vive Veuve to the Grade 2, $600,000 Edgewood on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

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