Co-owner Frank Fletcher said he was elated to see Lady Rocket relish the stretch out in distance to a one-turn mile when she dominated the $250,000 Grade 3 Go for Wand on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.
A wire-to-wire winner of the Go for Wand, Lady Rocket set quick fractions with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard, coasting through an opening quarter in :23.22 and a half-mile in :46.54. Geared down in the final sixteenth, Lady Rocket crossed the wire nine lengths the better of Bella Vita in second, stopping the clock in 1:36.52. She earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure for her impressive effort.
Racing at a mile for the first time in the Go for Wand, going longer was a question for the 4-year-old filly, who had to dig down and fend off a late bid from Glass Ceiling to win her division of the seven-furlong Pumpkin Pie at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., by a neck in her last start.
With her hard-earned Pumpkin Pie victory in mind, Fletcher, who co-owns the daughter of Tale of the Cat with Ten Strike Racing, said he watched the Go for Wand with bated breath.
“I was really nervous because of the mile,” Fletcher said. “Her best distance was seven furlongs coming into this race and that was a really close race. We were scared to death of the mile. When she won as well as she did, we were shocked and surprised. I'm very pleased with how she ran. We watched it on the TV dumbfounded.”
With her first graded stakes victory now on her resume, Lady Rocket will be given time off to prepare for her 2022 campaign. Both Fletcher and trainer Brad Cox hope her performance Saturday is the start of a successful journey to Grade 1 glory.
“She'll be at Belmont for a bit before getting some time off,” Fletcher said. “Brad [Cox] said he thinks she needs a little break; she's been racing once a month for a while. She'll be on the farm for two or three months and then we'll point her to a Grade 1. She's becoming a lot stronger and is finding a new gear. I think she could even go beyond a mile now seeing how well she handled it.”
Along with Lady Rocket, Fletcher also owns multiple graded stakes winner Frank's Rockette and G3 winner Candy Man Rocket, who are both stabled with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
Frank's Rockette, who finished third in the listed Dream Supreme at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in her last start on November 13, has now joined Mott's Florida string of horses after spending the fall in Kentucky.
“She was training at Churchill and is in Florida right now,” Fletcher said of the Into Mischief mare. “We'll point her to a nice race there. She came out of her last race well.”
Candy Man Rocket made an appearance on the road to the Kentucky Derby this spring when he won the G3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., and finished off the board in the G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct.
Away from the races since a runner-up effort in the six-furlong Gold Fever at Belmont in May, the 3-year-old son of Candy Ride is working his way back to a campaign that will see him sprinting going forward.
“He's down at Payson Park (in Indiantown, Fla.) right now working on getting his feet a little better,” Fletcher said. “We found out in his last race that he didn't want to go long. He ran a great race at six furlongs and got caught at the wire. We think he'll be hard to beat at the sprint distance. He'll come back in a race down in Florida; we aren't sure where yet.”
As for next year's Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Fletcher shared his excitement for recent maiden special weight winner Rocket Dawg, who was a debut winner going seven furlongs at Churchill on November 19 by 5 ½ lengths. After flashing his talent in his debut, a step up to graded stakes company could be in the Classic Empire colt's future.
“He was very impressive in that debut. He's got a ton of potential and we're excited about him,” Fletcher said. “We'll run him back in an allowance and if he can hold the form from his maiden win in allowance company, we'll point him to the Southwest at Oaklawn. We think he'll do well.”
Rocket One, another impressive maiden winner for Fletcher this fall, will be returning to turf after giving the dirt a try with a pair of sixth-place finishes in the G2 Castle and Key Bourbon at Churchill on October 10 and an optional claimer in his most recent start on November 27.
A 1 ½ length winner of a maiden special weight at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., in his third career start, Fletcher said switching back to the turf makes the most sense for the 2-year-old Into Mischief colt.
“He's down at Payson Park right now and we'll get him back on the grass at Gulfstream Park this winter,” Fletcher said. “He showed us his potential and talent in that turf maiden and we know that's where he wants to be. I would like to have dirt horses since I prefer to run at Oaklawn, but I also want to win. So we'll get him where he needs to be to win.”
J L's Rockette, who finished seventh in the G2 Adirondack at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and ninth in the Ainsworth at Kentucky Downs in her last start on September 12, will be turned out and freshened for a few months before making her return to the races.
The post Lady Rocket Gets Freshening After Go For Wand Win Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
