Lone Rock Will Try To End 2021 Season On Top In Oaklawn’s Inaugural Tinsel Stakes

Lone Rock tries to punctuate a sensational 2021 campaign in the inaugural $200,000 Tinsel Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn.

Probable post time for the 1 1/8-mile Tinsel, which goes as the ninth of 10 races, is 4:13 p.m. (Central). Racing begins at 12:30 p.m.

The Tinsel, for 3-year-olds and up, is among four new races added to Oaklawn's stakes schedule to accommodate an expanded season in 2021-2022 (66 days) and December opening, the earliest in track history. It has drawn a field of seven, including three millionaire multiple graded stakes winners.

Lone Rock opened 2021 with an allowance victory at 1 1/16 miles last February at Oaklawn, his first start since trainer Robertino Diodoro re-claimed the gelding for $40,000 in November 2020 at Churchill Downs. A two-time allowance winner at the 2021 Oaklawn meeting, Lone Rock flourished after targeting races beyond the American classic distance (1 ¼ miles) and surpassed $1 million in career earnings with a 1 ½-length victory in the $250,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes (G2) Nov. 6 at Del Mar in his last start. Lone Rock set a 1 5/8-mile track record (2:42.61) under Oaklawn regular Ramon Vazquez.

Diodoro said he doesn't believe cutting back to 1 1/8 miles will be a problem for Lone Rock, whose shortest race this year was the February allowance.

“I don't think so, just because the horse is doing so good right now and there's enough speed in there, on paper, anyway,” Diodoro said. “Again, we'll see what happens Saturday.”

Lone Rock has bankrolled $722,884 in winning 6 of 8 starts (all in 2021) since Diodoro took back the now-6-year-old Majestic Warrior gelding on behalf of New York owner Jason Provenzano (Flying P Stable). Prior to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, Lone Rock had captured an April 11 allowance race at Oaklawn, $130,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes April 27 at Churchill Downs, $400,000 Brooklyn Stakes (G2) June 5 at Belmont Park and the $120,000 Birdstone Stakes Aug. 5 at Saratoga.

The April 11 race, Isaac Murphy and Brooklyn were all 1 ½ miles. The Birdstone was 1 ¾ miles. Lone Rock also finished second in another 1 ½-mile race, the $150,000 Temperence Hill Stakes for older horses, March 13 at Oaklawn.

Overall, Lone Rock has a 13-4-2 record from 36 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,024,921. The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance was his fifth career stakes victory.

Diodoro said the Tinsel could serve as the gelding's bridge to another shot against Grade-1 company in 2022. Lone Rock ran in the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) for 2-year-olds in 2017 at Keeneland, but spent most of his career in the allowance ranks before blossoming in niche events this year.

“At the same time, it's one day at a time, definitely,” Diodoro said. “We're just focused on Saturday night now and see what happens.”

Also entered in the Tinsel are Warrior's Charge and Tenfold, two other millionaire multiple graded stakes winners.

Warrior's Charge won the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses in 2020 at Oaklawn for trainer Brad Cox. Warrior's Charge exits a runner-up finish, beaten a nose by Tinsel entrant Thomas Shelby, in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race Oct. 24 at Keeneland. Warrior's Charge still received a career-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure, four points higher than for his Razorback victory.

“He likes Oaklawn,” Cox said. “I think it's a good spot. He drew well. Looks like a shorter field. I think it's good timing since his last race. He received some big figures out of his last run and he's had plenty of time to recover from it. If he gets some similar figures again, I think we'll be in good shape.”

Tenfold, a Grade 2 winner, captured his first two career starts at the 2018 Oaklawn meeting for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen before finishing third in the Preakness. Diodoro also entered the speedy Thomas Shelby, who has won three consecutive starts, including a narrow decision over Warrior's Charge in October, and seven overall in 2021.

“There's lots of speed in the race, but we definitely aren't changing our tactics, that's for sure,” said Diodoro, who trains Thomas Shelby for four-time defending Oaklawn champion owner M and M Racing (Mike and Mickala Sisk). “We're going to go as hard as we need to go on the front end and hopefully have enough to last.”

The projected seven-horse Tinsel field from the rail out: Huge Bigly, Reylu Gutierrez to ride, 117 pounds, 6-1 on the morning line; Lone Rock, Ramon Vazquez, 124, 8-5; Beau Luminarie, Ricardo Santana Jr., 124, 6-1; Title Ready, Brian Hernandez Jr., 124, 9-2; Tenfold, Luis Contreras, 117, 6-1; Thomas Shelby, David Cohen, 121, 8-1; and Warrior's Charge, Florent Geroux, 124, 5-2.

Diodoro also entered Thomas Shelby in Sunday's seventh race, a starter/optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles.

Beau Luminarie is the first scheduled starter at the meeting for trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who won the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses in 2019 at Oaklawn with Quip. Beau Luminarie is seeking his first stakes victory after near-misses in the $150,000 Ben Ali (G3) April 10 at Keeneland and the $60,000 Tri-State Overnight Aug. 7 at Ellis Park. Although Beau Luminarie has nine runner-up finishes in his 18-race career, he's won his last two starts, both in allowance company this fall in Kentucky.

“I think with the year he's had, it's no pressure,” Brisset said. “He's just turned the corner and found the wire. He's been finding the wire. Before, he had a tendency to want to hang, he had a tendency to want to run second. All of a sudden, he just learned how to win. I think we are in the right spot. I'm not saying he's going to win by 5, but he's improving and we'll see what happens. Likely, he'll get a break after the race and set him up for next year.”

Grade 3 winner Title Ready will be making his second start after finishing 11th behind 2021 Razorback winner Mystic Guide in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) March 27 in the United Arab Emirates for trainer Dallas Stewart.

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Lone Rock Sets Track Record In TAA Stakes Win At Del Mar

Lone Rock, 2021's master of the long-distance dirt race, posted his sixth win of the year in the 1 5/8-mile Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at Del Mar. On the Breeders' Cup undercard, the 6-year-old gelding set a track record of 2:42.61, breaking the record for the rarely contested distance that has stood since 1957.

Coming off a last-out second in the Grand Prix American Jockey Club at Belmont Park, Lone Rock stayed a length off frontrunner Tizamagician from the break, biding his time throughout the marathon TAA Stakes. Locally Owned, who beat Lone Rock in the Grand Prix last-out, was third, with Cupid's Claws and Hapi Hapi rounding out the field. On the final turn, Lone Rock made his bid for the lead, pulling even with Tizamagician entering the stretch, as Locally Owned tired and fell back.

In the Del Mar stretch, Lone Rock took the lead easily, striding away from Tizamagician to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Cupid's Claws came on for third. Hapi Hapi and Locally Owned rounded out the order of finish. Find this race's chart here.

Lone Rock paid $5.00, $2.80, and $2.10. Tizamagician paid $2.60 and $2.10. Cupid's Claws paid $2.60.

Winning jockey Ramon Vazquez pledged to donate 10% of his earnings from his mounts on Breeders' Cup Saturday to the family of jockey Miguel Mena, who was killed in a pedestrian accident in Louisville, Ky., earlier this week.

“No special instructions for me. He just said to ride him like you know how. I had a good trip all the way. I was very confident in my horse and he was running well. At the eighth pole, I asked and he ran hard. He's a good horse,” Vazquez said after the race.

“It played out the way we thought it would. We expected (Tizamagician) would go and we would make him use a little bit to clear us. Then when it was time, he likes it on the outside and we could go get him. This is such a good horse. He makes our jobs easy,” Sean Williams, trainer Robertino Diodoro's assistant, told the Del Mar Press Office after the TAA Stakes.

Bred in Kentucky by Town & Country Horse Farms and Pollock Farms, Lone Rock is by Majestic Warrior out of the Hard Spun mare Ruby Lips. The gelding is owned by Flying P Stable and R.A. Hill Stable. Lone Rock was consigned by Taylor Made Sales and sold to Shortleaf Stable for $55,000 at the July 2016 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale. With this win, the 6-year-old gelding has six wins in eight starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 13 wins in 36 starts and career earnings of $1,024,921.

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Lone Rock Works Out In Anticipation Of Next Start At Del Mar

Flying P Stable and R.A. Hill Stable's Lone Rock, winner of the Grade 2 Brooklyn and two other stakes going 1½ miles or more, worked an easy half-mile in :52.80 over a muddy main track at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., Saturday morning for trainer Robertino Diodoro.

It was the first work for Lone Rock since finishing second in the 1 5/8-mile Grand Prix American Jockey Club Invitational at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on Sept. 18. Lone Rock is being pointed to the $250,000 Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Nov. 6 going 1 5/8 miles.

“He will have two more works here and leave Nov. 2 for Del Mar,” said Diodoro, who claimed Lone Rock for $40,000 last November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Lone Rock has five victories and two seconds in his seven starts for Diodoro.

Diodoro also said that Cypress Creek Equine and Arnold Bennewith's Dream Lith, who finished in a dead heat for fifth in the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades on Oct. 8, is being pointed to the $400,000 Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs on Nov. 27.

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Rocketry Blasts Off In The Stretch To Win Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes

Rocketry moved with a strong kick down the middle of the Keeneland stretch and blew past an already fierce stretch battle on Friday to win the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, formerly known as the Marathon Stakes, on the Breeders' Cup undercard.

With the victory, the 6-year-old son of Hard Spun became the first horse to win two editions of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, which began its life in 2008 as the Breeders' Cup Marathon, and was moved to the undercard in 2014 and named simply the Marathon Stakes. He previously won the race in 2018 at Churchill Downs, which was his first win prior to Friday's race, nine starts earlier.

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. put the brakes on Rocketry immediately out of the gate, and settled him last by a wide margin as the field made its first trip across the backstretch. On the front end, Dack Janiel's, Signalman and Plus Que Parfait battled for the lead. That trio led the field into the first turn in an opening quarter of :24.40 seconds, and the order remained largely unchanged when the mile pole went by in 1:38.54.

While Ortiz started moving Rocketry into contention on the outside, Danny California introduced himself to the lead pack, which saw Dack Janiel's holding the rail valiantly as 1 1/4-miles ticked off in 2:03.81. With three-sixteenths to go, jockey Declan Cannon appeared to have Dack Janiel's kicking away from the field, but the Argentine-born Mirinaque staged a mid-pack move and drew even with a sixteenth to go.

By the time those two drew even, Rocketry was already dialed in to challenge the leaders, and he blew by them in the closing strides to win by a length. Mirinaque carried on for second, a length ahead of Dack Janiel's. Post time favorite Cupid's Claws was never a serious threat, and finished 12th in the 14-horse field.

Winning for owner Centennial Farms and trainer Jimmy Jerkens, Rocketry completed the 1 5/8-mile race in 2:42.57 over a fast main track. He paid $25.20 to win, and triggered a trifecta of long odds, winning as an 11-1 shot over horses running at 33-1 and 53-1.

With the victory, Rocketry improved his career record to six wins in 28 career starts for earnings of $789,710.

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd., Rocketry is out of the winning Smart Strike mare Smart Farming. He was a $450,000 purchase by Centennial Farms at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

To view the race's chart, click here.

Quotes from the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, courtesy of the Keeneland Notes Team:

Jimmy Jerkens (trainer of winner Rocketry): “He ran so bad last time (third in the Sept. 18 Miner's Mark Stakes at Belmont). He came out of it with a real bad out-of-whack blood count. I was scratching my head. It looked like he was training good into it, and he ran so flat. We freshened him up. Didn't train him quite as hard, just tried to put some flesh on him. It looked like it was a good lively race for this far, and that's what he needs.”

“He was doing better overall than he was last time, and the horses came back to him last time. Which is what he needs. He sat way back off an honest pace. He needs to see them coming back to him, and that's what happened.”

On what's next for Rocketry?

“I don't know. We're going to enjoy this for a while. Centennial (Farms), they've been wonderful, loyal owners. We've had a bad year; for them to win this race was huge for both of us.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. (winning rider): “We broke out of the gates – and he doesn't have too much speed – so I let him settle. He relaxed so well. By the five-eighths pole, he started picking it up on his own and he was moving really good. When I asked him going by the three-eighths pole, he responded really well. He likes this kind of race, with the long distance, and he ran great. He was picking up a ton of ground in the stretch, so I knew I had a good shot to get there.”

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