Double B Racing Stables' Carter (G1) runner-up Repo Rocks returned to winning form with a powerful 5 1/4-length score in Friday's Westchester (G3), a one-turn mile for older horses, at Belmont Park.
Trained by Jamie Ness and piloted by Ruben Silvera, Repo Rocks tracked Expressman through fractions of :22.99 and :45.80 over the fast main track before taking over at the five-sixteenths and drawing clear to win in a final time of 1:34.96.
Repo Rocks will now target the $1-million Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) on June 10 going a one-turn mile as part of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
“It's a big day–Belmont Day. We're very excited,” Ness said. “Hopefully, we have a good month of training.”
The 5-year-old Tapiture gelding has won five of six starts since join the Ness barn, taking the Let's Give Thanks and Blitzen at Parx before making the grade in the seven-furlong Toboggan (G3) in January at the Big A with an 8 1/2-length romp that earned a career-best 111 Beyer.
Repo Rocks made his next two starts at Aqueduct, capturing the one-mile Stymie in February ahead of a runner-up performance to Doppelganger in the seven-furlong Carter Handicap on April 8.
Following the Westchester, Ness said the stretch out in distance and the sweeping turns at Belmont benefitted Repo Rocks.
“I thought the bigger track would be better, and I think a mile is his distance,” Ness said. “He's this big, long-striding horse. This is the trip I wanted, and it was perfect on the outside with one horse to chase.”
Ness also credited the prominent trip provided by Silvera, who took over from Andrew Wolfsont. Silvera has teamed up with Ness to win 340 races from 1,206 career starts.
“That's his kind of riding style. He's an aggressive gate rider,” Ness said. “He works him and gets on him in the morning.”
Ness said the lofty 109 Beyer earned Friday validates Repo Rocks tour de force in the Toboggan.
“It shows that the Toboggan wasn't a fluke and that he has it in him,” Ness said. “A lot of times, you run one big number and can never repeat it. He got pretty close to repeating it and it shows he's a legit horse. Now, it's my job to try and get him to run back to it again.”
Repo Rocks posted a trio of bullet works between the Stymie and the Carter and the lackluster effort prompted Ness to take his foot off the pedal heading into the Westchester.
“I think the Grade 1 got me and I pushed him a little harder for the Carter and he ran a little flat. You learn from your mistakes and try not to repeat them again,” Ness said. “I brought him back to Parx [after the Westchester] and I think I'll take him to Fair Hill for a week to 10 days and then get back to work and point for the Met Mile. I'll probably put a couple breezes in him.”
Bred in Virginia by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, III, Repo Rocks boasts a record of 35-9-7-6 for purse earnings of $795,871.
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