Lady Rocket Gets Freshening After Go For Wand Win Saturday

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.”

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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.

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Turf 2-Year-Olds Make a Splash in Bourbon

A field of 14 juveniles look to sort themselves out in Sunday's GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. at Keeneland, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) is one of two stakes-winning juveniles in the field, following up a spectacular 14 1/4-length off-the-turf maiden special weight at Ellis Park July 2 with a hard-fought score in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile S. Sept. 6. As a $330,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling, he remains the highest-priced yearling–by nearly $200,000–by his sire and was picked out of the sale by that astute judge of horseflesh, Kenny McPeek. Tiz the Bomb owns the highest Beyer (76) among these young runners and has bulleted in two of his last three works, one bullet each on turf and dirt.

As the only other black-type winner among these nascent runners, Red Danger (Orb) also has a two-race win streak. He overcame bumping and steadying to break his maiden at the Spa, then also came back at Kentucky Downs to edge to a win in the Sept. 9 Global Tote Juvenile Sprint S. Both his victories are on the lawn, but he hasn't gone farther than 6 1/2 furlongs for trainer Brian Lynch.

If Tiz the Bomb falters, McPeek also sends Lucky Boss (Street Boss), who won a July 17 off-the-turf Ellis maiden, then was runner-up Aug. 15 at the same track in the Runhappy Ellis Park Juvenile S. The Bourbon will mark his first start on the grass. Rocket One (Into Mischief) kicked off his career in the deep end, losing on the dirt to eventual GISW Gunite (Gun Runner), then lost to re-opposing Play Action Pass (Cairo Prince) on the turf before winning handily while closing late in a Sept. 6 Kentucky Downs maiden special weight. Play Action Pass was in that same Gunite maiden, beat Rocket One when moving to the lawn, and grudgingly yielded the lead and the win to Tiz the Bomb in the Juvenile Mile S. Heaven Street (Street Sense) has the most starts under his belt with five, and has won two of his last three, all on the grass, with a placing in Woodbine's Soaring Free S.

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June 26 Insights

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

MOTT SADDLES ANOTHER INTO MISCHIEF 'ROCKET'

2nd-CD, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 1:14p.m.

Frank Fletcher and Bill Mott have enjoyed success with offspring of Into Mischief in the past with MGSW Frank's Rockette and they debut a son of that super sire here in ROCKET ONE. The $600,000 KEESEP acquisition is a half to GSP Dancing Belle (First Samurai). Their dam is a half to MGSW and millionaire Last Gunfighter (First Samurai) and dual graded winner Tiger Moth (Street Sense). TJCIS PPs

 

PRICEY NOT THIS TIME COLT DEBUTS IN NY

2nd-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:31p.m.

Repole Stable and St Elias Stable have been quite a successful team, campaigning the likes of champion Vino Rosso (Curlin) and promising juvenile and 'TDN Rising Star' Wit (Practical Joke). The powerhouse duo unleash another pricey juvenile here in $450,000 KEESEP purchase UP TO THE MARK (Not This Time). His second dam is Grade I winner Capote Belle (Capote), who is responsible for SW Zapper Belle (Ghostzapper), dam of fellow SW Kabella (Kitten's Joy). TJCIS PPs

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