Tag: into mischief

Frank’s Rockette Returns To Winning Ways In American Beauty

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations, Inc's multiple Grade 2 winner Frank's Rockette lived up to her 1-2 odds and returned to the winner's circle after making a successful 2021 debut in Saturday's $150,000 American Beauty Stakes at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark. The 4-year-old filly was making her first start since taking on older males in the Breeders' Cup Sprint last November.

Breaking from post 7 under jockey Florent Geroux, Frank's Rockette raced just to the outside of 2019 American Beauty winner Amy's Challenge and stayed within easy striking distance through early fractions of :21 3/5 and :44 3/5 before edging clear of her rival to win by 1 ¼ lengths. Her final time was 1:10 over a muddy track. Wildwood's Beauty was third.

“She broke very alertly, which gave me a great option to be right there off the speed without any effort,” Geroux said. “And, from there, I was just continuing to get pressure on Amy's Challenge because when she's on the lead she can be very difficult to pass. I wanted to make sure I didn't give my filly too much to do down the lane. But she was very professional and when I asked her to go down the lane, she was all in and she gave me everything she had.”

Frank's Rockette, a homebred daughter of Into Mischief, improved her record to 7-4-0 in 12 starts and has now earned $696,103. She returned $3.20, $2.40 and $2.10 as the heavy favorite.

“Nice to see her come off the bench,” trainer Bill Mott add via phone. “It's great. What makes it better is Mr. (Frank) Fletcher was there at his home track and he was there, so, you know I mean, that's like winning two. She ran on an off track there last year, but the bottom line is she ran into a very good filly (Kimari). Florent (Geroux) thought she handled it well enough today. Knowing she was second against a really good filly there last year, I felt she would handle it. Is it her favorite surface? Well, I don't know. But she certainly handled it well enough today.”

Frank's Rockette was saddled by Sebastian “Bas” Nicholl, longtime assistant to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Frank's Rockette shipped into Lukas' barn.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Oaklawn with a 1 p.m. first post.

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Gamine Easily Tops Female Sprinters, Whitmore Rides BC Win to Eclipse

'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) proved the fleetest of the fleet among female sprinters in 2020, becoming the second consecutive of her all-conquering sire's daughters to take home the hardware in the Female Sprinter division (Covfefe, 2019). The $1.8-million sales-topper at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale easily outdistanced the hard-knocking, dual-division finalist Serengeti Empress (Alternation) and GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint victress Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead). Gamine was second to Swiss Skydiver for the 3-year-old filly Eclipse.

A successful pinhook, having brought $220,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2018, Gamine joined stablemates Nadal (Blame) and Charlatan (Speightstown) as early-season 'Rising Stars' with a first-out romp Mar. 7, then crossed the line first in a two-turn Oaklawn allowance only to later be disqualified for a drug positive. She decimated her rivals in her next two starts, both around one turn, scoring by a Rachel Alexandra-like 18 3/4 lengths in the GI Longines Acorn S. going a mile at Belmont June 20 and again in the seven-furlong GI Longines Test S. at Saratoga Aug. 8, following in Covfefe's hoofprints.

Gamine failed to see out the nine-furlong trip in the postponed GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, finishing third to Eclipse finalist Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) and champion Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), but was back to her brilliant best in the F/M Sprint, sitting off the pace for the first time in her career before shooting past Serengeti Empress to take it by a record-setting margin of 6 1/4 lengths.

The hard-knocking Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) is a balm for the souls of all race fans who long for the good old days of fan-favorite war horses. The cantankerous gelding recorded the biggest victory of his career with a resounding late-running score in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. It was the then 7-year-old's fourth effort in the Breeders' Cup.

Whitmore's early 2020 campaign followed a familiar pattern, as the chestnut won a third renewal of the Hot Springs S. while making his fourth start in the six-furlong event at the Oaklawn Park winter base of trainer Ron Moquett. The following month, he earned his third win in the GIII Count Fleet H.

Whitmore was second behind fellow Eclipse sprint finalist Volatile (Violence) in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. in July and, after off-the-board finishes in the GI Forego S. and GII Phoenix S., the Breeders' Cup crowd dismissed the gritty gelding at 18-1 on championship weekend.

Well back behind a fast pace, Whitmore enjoyed a rail-skimming ride which put him in striking distance at the top of the lane. He tipped out for running room in upper stretch and the expectation of what was to come was palpable as track announcer Kurt Becker proclaimed, “Here's Whitmore. Here's Whitmore. Here's Whitmore,” with increasing urgency.

Here indeed was Whitmore, who strode to the lead with authority and kicked away to win by 3 1/4 lengths.

Neither of his fellow sprint finalists, two-time Grade I winner Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) nor Volatile, raced beyond July and both made just three starts in 2020. Eclipse voters rewarded both Whitmore's flashy Breeders' Cup win and his longevity with a championship statue.

Whitmore is back in Arkansas and readying for another campaign.

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Swiss Skydiver and Authentic Top Sophomore Divisions

Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) dominated the 3-year-old filly division in 2020 and even defeated some of the top older males of her generation, making her the clear-cut choice for this award. Kicking off her sophomore season with a third in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at Fair Grounds in February, the $35,000 KEESEP buy rebounded with a trio of decisive victories in the Mar. 28 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, May 1 GIII Fantasy S. and June 6 GII Santa Anita Oaks. Trainer Ken McPeek tried his charge against males for the first time in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland July 11, where she finished a valiant second to Art Collector (Bernardini).

Returning to winning ways with a facile victory in Saratoga's prestigious GI Alabama S. Aug. 15, Swiss Skydiver checked in second to Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) next out in the delayed GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4. Despite that loss, McPeek and owner Peter Callahan had enough faith in their star filly to take on males yet again, this time in the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3. Swiss Skydiver dueled stride-for-stride with fellow champion and GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief) in the lane, turning back that foe in the final strides for a gutsy victory. The chestnut is the sixth filly to win the Preakness and the first since Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) in 2009. She was last seen finishing a disappointing seventh behind two-time Eclipse winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) after stumbling at the start of the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland Nov. 7.

Over the summer many would have thought Tiz the Law (Constitution) would be taking home the award for top sophomore male, but Authentic (Into Mischief) seized the throne after a sensational fall campaign during which he took home the season's two biggest prizes. A good-looking debut winner at Del Mar in November of 2019, the leggy bay demolished the field in the GIII Sham S. at the start of 2020, despite ducking in harshly in the lane. Following suit with a game victory in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita in March, the $350,000 KEESEP acquisition tasted defeat for the first time at the hooves of Honor A.P. (Honor Code), finishing second in the June 6 GI Santa Anita Derby after breaking a step slow, traveling wide and drifting in the stretch.

Off to a sharp start next out in the nine-furlong GI Haskell Invitational S. July 18, Authentic took the field wire-to-wire, holding off a determined Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) by a nose. Many doubted his ability to see out the GI Kentucky Derby's 10-furlong distance after that effort, but the May foal silenced all doubters with a front-running victory over favored GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. victor Tiz the Law. The Bob Baffert pupil did not get his preferred position on the front end in the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3 and came up a neck short of champion filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) after a gritty stretch duel. Facing his elders for the first time including champion stablemates Improbable (City Zip) and Maximum Security (New Year's Day) in the Nov. 7 GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, Authentic went straight to the lead on a Keeneland oval favoring speed and ran his rivals off their feet for a 2 1/4-length score. Following that career-high, the colt was retired to the Spendthrift stallion barn, where he will stand alongside his red hot sire Into Mischief.

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Report: Mutasaabeq Off Derby Trail With ‘Minor Shin Issue’

The dual-surface capable Mutasaabeq has been removed from consideration for the 2021 Kentucky Derby, reports DRF's Mike Welsch on Twitter. A 3-year-old son of Into Mischief, the colt exited his latest workout with a “minor shin issue.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher had been pointing the Shadwell-owned Mutasaabeq to Saturday's G3 Holy Bull Stakes, after the colt impressed in his 3-year-old debut on the dirt in the Jan. 2 Mucho Macho Man Stakes.

As a juvenile, Mutasaabeq finished third in the G1 Hopeful on dirt, then won the G2 Bourbon on turf before finishing off the board in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Out of the winning Scat Daddy mare Downside Scenario, a half-sister to Group 3 winner and $844,783 earner Cool Cowboy, Mutasaabeq was a $425,000 weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

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