COLIC CLAIMS LA VERDAD

By Press Release – La Verdad, the 2015 Eclipse Award-winning female sprint champion, was euthanized Sunday afternoon due to complications from colic. Six days earlier, on May 4, La Verdad gave birth to a healthy colt by Into Mischief, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the champion mare’s owner, Lady Sheila Stable.

“It is always difficult to lose a horse,” the statement read. “Whether a beloved backyard pet or a professional investment or in this case, an accomplished athlete and famous personality.

La Verdad was not only a racehorse. She was a symbol. She represented women in racing. As a mare. As a horse trained by Linda Rice and owned by Sheila Rosenblum. And she represented our state and our tracks, as a NY bred never hesitating in the face of competition.”

A 10-year-old by Yes It’s True out of Noble Fire, by Hook and Ladder, La Verdad was bred in New York by Eklektikos Stable LLC and sold privately to Rosenblum after beginning her racing career as a 3-year-old.

In all, she won 16-of-25 races over four years for trainer Linda Rice. In her championship season, La Verdad won five of eight starts, including a pair of G2 races and a G3, and finished second in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland behind long shot Wavell Avenue.

Three of La Verdad’s foals have been offered at public auction: a 2017 filly by Medaglia d’Oro was bought back for $775,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale; a 2018 filly by Tapit sold for $800,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale; and a 2019 filly by Curlin was bought back for $600,000 at the Keeneland November sale.

“La Verdad took Sheila on a whirlwind of an adventure as an owner,” the Facebook statement read. “From the victories to the Eclipse Award to being the reason she began breeding horses, this mare has shown Sheila more areas of the Thoroughbred industry than most owners get to see. And all in a positive light.

Her legacy lives on in four foals- three fillies and the recent colt. But while they embody the strength and spirit of their mother, they will never have that special connection to her human partner.”