La Verdad used her considerable speed once again on Thursday at Belmont Park, setting all the pace en route to a 1 3/4-length victory in the $100,000 Dancin Renee S. The win was the fourth in a row in added money affairs for the 4-year-old daughter of Yes It’s True.
With jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. subbing for his brother Jose, La Verdad hustled out of the gate immediately and was up three lengths after a half-mile in a very rapid :44.68. Willet, under Joel Rosario, put in a brief run at the leader at the top of the stretch, but La Verdad responded to pull away willingly, stopping the clock in 1:09.99 for the six furlongs.
“I felt (Willet) a little bit, but when I asked her I didn’t hit her,” said Ortiz. “Jose told me to have confidence that when you ask her, she’s going to pick it up. She went pretty fast in the first part and kept going. I’m going to buy Jose dinner.”
According to trainer Linda Rice, La Verdad was using the Dancin Renee as a prep for the Grade 2 Honorable Miss H. on July 28 at Saratoga Race Course.
“Coming out of a (the one-mile Critical Eye S. on May 31), I wanted to just keep her sharp,” said Rice. “I did not anticipate that this race would have come up as tough as it did with Willet and Risky Rachel, so it wasn’t the prep I was looking for, but it will get us to the Honorable Miss.”
La Verdad has finished worse than second only once, that in her career debut. Her lifetime earnings now stand at $606,700, with nine wins and a second in 11 starts.
Yes It’s True has passed the $2.9 million mark in progeny earnings, with La Verdad his leading earner of 2014. With 82 winners this year, Yes It’s True ranks in the top 10 of all North American stallions in the category.
