tom kagele | Horse Racing Free Tips

Millionaire C Z Rocket Retired

C Z Rocket (City Zip-Successful Rocket, by Successful Appeal) has been retired from racing, according to trainer Peter Miller. The 10-year-old was last seen finishing sixth at Oaklawn Monday.

An $800,000 OBS juvenile purchase by Arkansas businessman Frank Fletcher, C Z Rocket had lost 11 consecutive starts when he moved to Miller's barn in April of 2020 after he was claimed on behalf of Tom Kagele for $40,000 at Oaklawn. For his new connections, which subsequently included Altamira Racing and Madaket Stables, the Florida bred won 13 races, finished second nine times and was third on seven occasions from 46 starts, before retiring with earnings of $2,144,691.

Highlighting his victories, he annexed the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S., GII Pat O'Brien and GIII Count Fleet S. in addition to finishing runner-up in two renewals of the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, held at Keeneland in 2020 and 2022.

“One of the all-time great claims,” the California-based Miller said by phone Monday afternoon. “Made over $2 million, second in the Breeders' Cup twice and retires sound and happy. If that's not a success, I don't know what is.”

Third in his seasonal debut in a Santa Anita allowance Jan. 19, the bay was sixth facing starter allowance company in Hot Springs Feb. 19.

“The last thing I want to see is him get hurt,” Miller said. “He's very sound, but he's lost a step or two and now's the time.”

Miller said C Z Rocket's post-racing life could begin in a Kentucky equine retirement facility.

“If we can get him into Old Friends or Kentucky Horse Park, we'd do that,” Miller said. “And if not, we'll bring him home.”

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Racehorses Lead the Way at Fasig-Tipton December Sale

The top six sellers at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed and Horses of Racing Age Sale Tuesday were all racehorses, led by the 3-year-old gelding Radical Right (First Samurai) (Hip 281), who brought $260,000 from Tom Kagele.

The Richard Shultz homebred is a three-time winner and entered the sale off a second in the City of Laurel S. Nov. 26 for trainer Dale Capuano. He was consigned by Northview Stallion Station.

Trainer Mike Maker was very active, purchasing four racehorses, including the second highest-priced offering Heldish (Great Notion) (Hip 243), who summoned $160,000. His four purchases totaled $437,000 with an average of $109,250.

The highest-priced weanling was a $75,000 filly (Hip 139) from the first crop of Grade I winner Global Campaign, bought by Wellspring Stables LLC. The most expensive broodmare was In My Time (Scat Daddy) (Hip 113), who sold in foal to Practical Joke for $62,000. She was purchased by trainer Wayne Potts, acting as agent for Barak Farm.

In total, 172 horses grossed $3,233,600 with an average of $18,800 and median of $10,000. Fifty-six horses failed to meet their reserves for an RNA rate of 24.5%.

During last year's sale, which was bolstered by the 86-horse dispersal of Joseph Becker, 261 of the 332 horses on offer sold for $3,905,100. The average was $14,962 and the median was $10,000. Seventy-one horses failed to sell for an RNA rate of 21.38%. The 2021 renewal was topped by maiden 2-year-old Safalow's Mission (Mission Impazible), who brought $130,000 from New York-based trainer Linda Rice, acting on behalf of Thelma and Louise Stable.

The post Racehorses Lead the Way at Fasig-Tipton December Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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C Z Rocket Back On Lasix, Returns To Hot Springs In Saturday Allowance

C Z Rocket was Oaklawn's top older male sprinter during the 2021 meeting that ended in May, but the millionaire multiple Grade 2 winner returns to Hot Springs for the 2021-2022 season trying to snap a five-race losing streak. The first chance comes in a high-end allowance sprint Saturday that his connections are using as a prep for the $150,000 King Cotton Stakes Jan. 29.

Co-owned by Southern California-based Tom Kagele, C Z Rocket was 2 for 2 last season at Oaklawn, toppling reigning male sprint champion Whitmore in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes and $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3). C Z Rocket is winless since, exiting a seventh in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 6 at Del Mar. But the late runner gets Lasix for the first time since last May's $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile Stakes (G3) in the 6-furlong eighth race.

“He needs it,” Kagele said Tuesday afternoon. “I don't think there's any secret he was falling off in races that he hasn't had Lasix, but he still ran pretty well. We tried him in the Breeders' Cup and didn't run that great there. Coming out of that race, his blood was a little off, so he had a little bit of an excuse there. He bounced out of it really well, so this race was like perfect timing and so we decided to run here instead of waiting for the Jan. 29 race.”

C Z Rocket, prior to leaving Southern California, recorded three workouts at San Luis Rey Downs for Saturday's race, which will mark his first for trainer Rene Amescua. On behalf of Kagele, trainer Peter Miller claimed C Z Rocket for $40,000 out of a fifth-place finish April 30, 2020, at Oaklawn. C Z Rocket then ripped off five consecutive victories, including the $150,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) at Del Mar and $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2) at Santa Anita, before finishing second to Whitmore in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) in November 2020 at Keeneland.

Miller announced last month that he was taking a sabbatical from training to spend more time with his family and focus on his health, but would “continue to act as an advisor/racing manager to my owners and my assistants as well as staying involved as an owner myself.”

Amescua has raced extensively in California and won more than 900 races in his career, according to Equibase, racing's official data gathering organization.

“I've known him for years,” Kagele said. “He was a trainer up at Golden Gate for years and just through the covid and other things, he kind of took a turn for the worse and lost some horses and some owners. Then, he recently said he was going to go out there to Oaklawn and I recommended him to Pete. I'm comfortable with it and Pete was, too. Pete owns part of C Z, also.”

After being claimed for $40,000 at Oaklawn, C Z Rocket began his winning streak against $50,000 claimers about a month later at Churchill Downs. The fifth-place finisher in that race, Hollis, was claimed for $50,000 and returned to set a 5 ½-furlong track record (1:02.17) in allowance company Dec. 10 at Oaklawn.

C Z Rocket, after escaping the claim box, won an allowance/optional claimer in June 2020 at Churchill Downs (he was in for a $62,500 tag) and set a 6 ½-furlong track record (1:15.00) three weeks later in a Keeneland allowance race. C Z Rocket has subsequently raced strictly in listed or graded stakes, spanning 10 races and roughly 15 ½ months.

“He'll be out there the whole meet,” Kagele said. “Hopefully, he does as well as he did last year.”

Regular rider Florent Geroux is named to ride C Z Rocket, the 5-2 program favorite, from post 8 for Saturday's eighth race, which has a $120,000 purse. Probable post time is 3:46 p.m. (Central). Also entered are millionaire Grade 2 winner Long Range Toddy and Mucho, a stablemate of Hollis who exits a runner-up finish, beaten a head, in the $300,000 Bet On Sunshine Stakes Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

C Z Rocket, a 7-year-old gelded son of City Zip, has an 11-4-4 record from 30 career starts and earnings of $1,511,641.

The King Cotton is Oaklawn's first of three major races for older sprinters. The series continues with the $200,000 Whitmore Stakes (formerly the Hot Springs) March 19 and the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 16.

Moysey Records First Win of Meet

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Ability To Run On Lasix ‘A Major Factor’ In Choosing Oaklawn For C Z Rocket’s 2021 Debut

The last time C Z Rocket ran at Oaklawn, the gelding was on a 10-race losing streak and in for a $40,000 claiming price.

C Z Rocket may have lost again last April, but Southern California-based trainer Peter Miller and owner Tom Kagele won big after claiming the gelding out of his fifth-place finish.

C Z Rocket captured his next five starts before his streak was snapped with a runner-up finish behind Whitmore in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Flip the results of the 6-furlong race and C Z Rocket would have gone from claimer to champion in roughly six months.

“My owner actually picked him,” Miller said Wednesday afternoon. “I OK'd it, but he picked him. He was off form, but obviously he had back class and back fast figures, fast sheet numbers. That was kind of what Tom Kagele saw and I agreed.”

Miller, who didn't have to shake for C Z Rocket, said the gelding bled the day he was claimed and “just assumed he was a bad bleeder and we were able to control that.”

C Z Rocket went on to set a 6 ½-furlong track record (1:15) in a July 12 allowance race at Keeneland and edge Flagstaff in the $150,000 Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) Aug. 29 at Del Mar and $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2) Sept. 27 at Santa Anita before being beaten 3 ¼ lengths by Whitmore in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

C Z Rocket returns to Oaklawn, this time for a rematch with Whitmore in Saturday's $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes for older sprinters. Like Whitmore, the country's champion male sprinter of 2020, the Hot Springs will mark C Z Rocket's first start since the Breeders' Cup. The 7-year-old son of City Zip has recorded a series of workouts at San Luis Rey Downs in Southern California in advance of the Hot Springs, which also drew Flagstaff.

“The fact that we could run on Lasix was a major factor in us choosing to go to Oaklawn,” Miller said.

C Z Rocket's career U-turn has him poised to reach $1 million career earnings this year. The gelding boasts a 9-2-2 mark from 23 lifetime starts and earnings of $891,641. Prominent North Little Rock, Ark., businessman Frank Fletcher purchased C Z Rocket for a sale-record $800,000 at the 2016 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company June Sale of 2-year-olds. C Z Rocket won his first three career starts (2017) and the $75,000 Kelly's Landing Overnight Stakes (2018) before he began running for a tag last spring at Oaklawn.

C Z Rocket will be reunited Saturday with Florent Geroux, who was aboard for two of the gelding's five consecutive victories last year. C Z Rocket is the 2-1 second choice in the program for the 6-furlong Hot Springs. Whitmore, who has won the Hot Springs a record four consecutive years, is the 8-5 favorite. Whitmore and C Z Rocket are scheduled to break from posts 6 and 7, respectively, in the projected seven-horse field.

“We felt like we could have won the Breeders' Cup if we had a better trip,” Miller said. “We were plus-40 or 50 feet in the race, even though we broke from the 2 hole and he (Whitmore) broke from the (7) hole. Don't ask me how that happened going three-quarters. But somehow or another we ended up giving up 40 or 50 feet in ground and we were closer to the pace than he really likes to be when the pace is that fast. We're excited. Obviously, our end goal would be the Breeders' Cup, but we're looking forward to the rematch.”

C Z Rocket now races for Kagele, Madaket Stables LLC (Sol Kumin) and Gary Barber.

The Hot Springs is the final major local prep for the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 10. Whitmore has won the Count Fleet a record three times (2017, 2018 and 2020).

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