Frank Fletcher's Frank's Rockette overwhelmed her four rivals in Saturday's $125,000 Sugar Swirl at Gulfstream Park, scoring a sharp front-running victory under Luis Saez.
Saddled by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the 5-year-old daughter of Into Mischief shook off early pressure and drew away to a 12 ¼-length triumph in the six-furlong stakes for fillies and mares that kicked off a New Year's Eve program co-headlined by the $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (G2), a prep for the Jan. 28 $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), and the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), a prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1)..
Frank's Rockette, the 4-5 favorite, was pressed to her outside along the backstretch and around the far turn while setting fractions of :22.06 and :44.74 for the first half-mile before kicking away powerfully.
The homebred mare's 10th career victory boosted her career bankroll to $1,224,808.
Joyful Cadence finished second, a neck in front of Copella.
Sugar Swirl (G3) Quotes
Winning Trainer Bill Mott: “She just said, 'Adios.' She usually brings a good race to the game, and today she brought a really good one. For some reason she's never shown her best race at Keeneland (11th in Breeders' Cup F&M Sprint). Other than that, she's been one-two-three every other time she's run in her life. She's been a model of consistency.
“Mr. Fletcher (owner Frank Fletcher) is all in to race. I think he's leaning toward racing, and when he sees this race, he'll probably want to give her another one. There's obviously time for another race before you have to go to the breeding shed. So that's an option. But the way she's going, I see no reason not to keep going a little bit.”
Winning Jockey Luis Saez: “She's a nice filly. She's great. She just broke from there running and controlled the pace. At the half-mile pole, I had plenty of horse and she did it pretty easy. When we came to the stretch, she switched leads and just kept going. It was great.”
The post ‘Adios’: Frank’s Rockette Scores By Open Lengths In Gate-To-Wire Sugar Swirl Romp appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
