Confidence Game may have fooled the betting public, earning a surprising victory at 18-1 odds in the $1 million Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 25, but nothing appeared fraudulent about his performance.
Tag: Racing
Repo Rocks Rolls To Fourth Successive Stakes Win With Stymie Score
Double B Racing Stables' Repo Rocks launched a powerful stretch run to capture his fourth straight stakes race in as many starts in Saturday's $125,000 Stymie, a one-turn mile for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The 5-year-old Tapiture gelding is undefeated since joining the barn of trainer Jamie Ness. He captured the Let's Give Thanks in November and Blitzen on January 4 at his Parx Racing base ahead of an 8 1/2-length romp in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Toboggan on January 28 at the Big A that garnered a 111 Beyer Speed Figure.
Repo Rocks, piloted throughout the streak by Andrew Wolfsont, overcame a troubled trip to successfully stretch out in his first start beyond seven furlongs since an off-the-board effort in the Bensalem Match Series at 1 1/16-miles on the Parx turf in June.
“It was not what I wanted,” said Ness, who would have preferred a front-running voyage. “I told Andrew he's on the best horse, he's very fit and put him on the lead–there's no speed. For some reason, he got him in trouble and luckily we overcame it today. When you run against this quality of horses, if you find trouble, you get beat. We got a great win. The mile was great and I knew he could stretch out, so I couldn't be more thrilled.”
Eric Cancel put Black Belt on the lead in the Stymie, marking off fractions of :23.93 and :47.51 over the fast main track with Miles D, who broke outward under Manny Franco, tracking from second position.
Repo Rocks, who initially rushed up to challenge the leader on the backstretch before taking back, raced in third position along the fence and was trapped behind the front pair of Black Belt and Miles D through the turn while pinned in from his outside by the Dexter Haddock-piloted Far Mo Power.
Miles D took command late in the turn but Wolfsont angled Repo Rocks off the rail and, once clear, surged with an impressive outside run to score by 3 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:36.75. Miles D completed the exacta by a half-length over Far Mo Power with Bourbonic, Black Belt and Tough Tickets rounding out the order of finish.
Wolfsont, who has won with 4-of-7 stakes starts at the Big A, said he expected more pace to develop.
“I could have gone on in the very beginning if I asked him to, but it being the test of a little bit longer of a distance, I didn't know if that was the right move,” Wolfsont said. “In retrospect, I probably would have been fine doing that just making him go early. He probably would have been fine with the pressure, but I felt like they were going just quick enough for me to sit off of it. I kind of wish they were going a little bit quicker – he would have been more comfortable – but obviously he did relax enough, he went on with it, and had plenty of kick left. As soon as I straightened for home, he did the rest easy.”
The Chad Brown-trained Miles D, who finished third in the 2021 Travers (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, entered from a distant seventh-place finish in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) on January 28 at Gulfstream Park while racing from a nearly one-year layoff.
Franco, who captured the co-featured Gander earlier on the card for Brown with Neural Network, said his horse performed admirably on the return to the scene of his impressive stakes score in the 2021 Discovery.
“He felt good and he was second-best today. The winner was impressive,” Franco said. “He was there for me, it's just the winner was best today.”
Repo Rocks showed signs of improvement in his 2022 campaign, posting a record of 11-2-2-2 that included a second in the Toboggan (G3) and a third in the Tom Fool Handicap (G3), both at the Big A, as well as completing the trifecta in the John A. Nerud (G2) at Belmont Park while in the care of trainer Juan Vazquez. He made seven starts for conditioner Gregory DiPrima from April through October before joining Ness.
“I'm impressed by the way he trains. He practices the way he plays,” Ness said. “I expected this effort today. I train on him pretty hard and he loves it and wants more.”
Ness said that although he would prefer to keep Repo Rocks at a one-turn mile, he is now likely to target the $300,000 Carter Handicap (G1) going seven furlongs April 8 at the Big A.
“The owner is from there and I want to keep him local. Why change something that's working?” Ness said. “He's a big horse and he needs a little time to level off. I like the mile distance, but if we have to cut back to seven-eighths, it is what it is.”
Bred in Virginia by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin III from the Not For Love mare Hawaiian Love, Repo Rocks banked $68,750 in victory, while improving his record to 8-6-6 from 33 starts. He returned $4.30 for a $2 win bet.
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Candy Man Rocket Caps Big Day For Mott In Gulfstream Park Sprint
Several hours after watching via TV Elite Power win the Dirt Sprint (G3) and Casa Creed just miss winning the Turf Sprint (G3), both at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was on hand at Gulfstream Park Saturday afternoon to witness Candy Man Rocket's dominating victory in the $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint.
Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc.'s 5-year-old son of Candy Ride out of the Forestry mare Kenny Lane kept his Gulfstream Park record perfect at 4-for-4 with a two-length victory under Junior Alvarado in the six-furlong sprint for older horses.
Candy Man Rocket, the 7-5 favorite, raced in third along the backstretch after breaking from the outside No. 7 post position, sitting off a torrid pace set by Super Ocho and chased by Lightening Larry. Super Ocho ran the first quarter of a mile in a blistering :21.49 to open a clear lead into the far turn under Emisael Jaramillo. His margin began shrinking on the turn into the homestretch as the Chilean import began to shorten stride while completing a half-mile in :44.21. Candy Man Rocket made a sweeping move past the tiring pacesetter and Lightening Larry to take the lead at the top of the stretch and continued on to win comfortably.
“We thought one of the horses or both of them would go out in front. They both were really rolling. We had a great post, and our horse didn't mind where he was,” Mott said.
Candy Man Rocket broke his maiden at Gulfstream in January 2021 before he captured the Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay. After going winless in his next three races, he went to the sidelines for 11 months before returning to win an optional claiming allowance by 3½ lengths at Gulfstream on February 22, 2022. Following another layoff of nearly a year, Candy Man Rock scored by 2 ¼ lengths in a Gulfstream Park optional claiming allowance Jan. 21.
Mott has no definite next-race plan for Candy Man Rocket, who returned $4.80 for the victory.
“I don't want to give him a year off again, but I usually give him a little time between races. We'll give him four, six weeks anyway,” Mott said.
Candy Man Rocket ran six furlongs in 1:09.91.
“I was just a passenger today,” Alvarado said. “This horse came with instructions.”
Lightening Larry finished second, 3 ¾ lengths ahead of Uncle Ernie.
Although his runners didn't pull off a sweep of the sprint races in Saudi Arabia, Mott expressed satisfaction with their efforts.
“I couldn't be more proud of both of them. Casa Creed got beat a nose. Here's a horse that's 7-years old and he keeps showing up,” Mott said. “Elite Power is pretty special. We saw that I think in his last six races.”
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‘The Good Ones, They Can Do Anything’: Yuugiri Kicks Clear In The Slop For Comfortable Carousel Win
Sekie and Tsunebumi homebred Yoshihara's 2022 Fantasy (G3) winner Yuugiri has returned to Oaklawn this season even stronger, winning her second straight impressively in Saturday's $150,000 Carousel Stakes for older female sprinters.
Yuugiri, the 3-2 favorite, and recent American Beauty Stakes winner Pretty Birdie both broke sharply and quickly distanced themselves from the field through early fractions of :21.41 and :44.97 for the first half mile with Pretty Birdie holding the slight advantage. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. moved Yuugiri out to the three path entered the stretch and she kicked clear late to draw off to win by 3½ lengths over her rival.
Hazy Command closed from last to be third. The winning time was 1:10.17 over a sloppy (sealed) track.
“The good ones, they can do anything,” winning trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “Obviously, last time we saw she liked the mud. Today, was a little bit sloppier, I think. They went a (half-mile) in :44 and (jockey Ricardo Santana Jr.) decided to take her back a little bit. He gave her a breather and she re-engaged. We know she knows how to dig in. She won at a mile and a sixteenth. Everything went as planned.”
Yuugiri, a 4-year-old Shackleford filly out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Yuzuru, won for the fourth time from eight career starts and has earned $714,285. She returned $5 for the win.
“There was some speed in the race so I was wanted to make sure she didn't go too fast too early,” Santana said. “Around the turn I took her off the rail and went to (Pretty Birdie's) outside and she tried really hard the whole way.”
Jockey David Cabrera, aboard Pretty Birdie, said his filly “ran really hard and got a little tired late.”
Brisset said the next objective for Yuugiri is the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland April 8.
The post ‘The Good Ones, They Can Do Anything’: Yuugiri Kicks Clear In The Slop For Comfortable Carousel Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
