Weekend Princess the latest TDN ‘Rising Star’ for Vekoma
March 20, 2026
Weekend Princess bounded home a 6 ¼-length winner in her March 20 debut at Santa Anita Park, earning the coveted TDN Rising Star tag.
The 3-year-old Vekoma filly, trained by Bob Baffert, is the eighth Rising Star for her sire.
Weekend Princess made her winning move approaching the quarter pole following an early-race duel for the lead with Confidentiality. Once she put that foe away, she was unthreatened the rest of the trip, winning under a handride in 1:04.22 for the 5 ½-furlongs on a fast track.
Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, the chestnut filly sold to her owners for $625,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling sale.
Weekend Princess was bred in Kentucky by John McCormack and is the first foal out of Alemia. Coming from an extremely talented female family, Weekend Princess’ third dam is Just Reward, a sister to graded winners Good Reward and Pure Prize, while her fourth dam is champion and Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize.
A champion sire of both of his first two crops to race, Vekoma leads all Third-Crop sires of 2026 by winners and wins.