Repo Rocks Faces First Grade 1 Test in Carter Handicap

news7g04/07/2023

7 3 minutes read

Repo Rocks Faces First Grade 1 Test in Carter Handicap

It’s a rare event when a sprinter is considered the top Elder Purebred in America.

However, that is exactly where Juddmonte elite power placed in the NTRA Top 10 poll thanks to consecutive wins in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) and most recently before the international competition on February 25 in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) worth 1 $0.5 million in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the quality of the competition that awaits him as he continues to race in the United States could be shaped by what happens in the $300,000 Carter (G1) Handicap on April 8 at Aqueduct race trackwhen a winter feeling will try to keep his fire burning in the spring and beyond.

Since the team that owns Double B Racing Stables switched rock repo to coach Jamie Ness in the fall, water tap gelding has won four races in a row, capped by eye-opening wins in the Toboggan Stakes (G3) and most recently the February 25 Stymie Stakes.

Now comes the acid test on the 5 year old’s first try with the tier 1 company.

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Ness, who won 3,911 races but finished with two out of place finishes in his only start in 1st grade, said: “We didn’t have much of a chance to run in 1st place. , so we’re excited to join on Saturday. “We’ll see what he has. He’s got all the numbers and all the stuff you need to win, but you have to do it with level 1 horses. We’ll see us. where are you.

“The last time I started a horse in a tier 1 stake (Craftsman 11th in Arlington Million XXXV, G1T in 2017), no one called me to preview.

Toboggan and Stymie are completely different experiences for Repo Rocks. In the seven-stage Skateboarding game on January 28 at Big A, he knocked out his opponents 10-1, winning 8 1/2 lengths with 1: 23.42 dazzling on slow track earn 120 Equibase Speed Figure. In the Stymie mile, also at the Aqueduct, he had a traffic crash and was re-wrested by horse rider Andrew Wolfsont but took the lead in the final round of 16 and won comfortably by 3 1/4 lengths. is option 6-5.

“Last time he got through it, and horses weren’t always like that,” Ness said. “I was pretty confident. He did everything right. We won a lot of races and I know how hard it is to win four times in a row and to win five times in a row is really hard. difficult, but I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.”

Repo Rocks was purchased for $70,000 by owners Lee Einsidler and Mike Francesa from Eaton Sales at the September 2019 Annual Sale in Keeneland and transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The Virginia hybrid didn’t win in eight starts for Mott before he was asked for $40,000 by coach Tom Morley. In six starts for Morley, he claimed his first win before being claimed $40,000 by Double B Racing and coach Juan Vazquez. He won two of his eight starts for Vazquez before moving to Gregory DiPrima and lost his next six starts after winning the first try for his new coach.

Moved to Ness after the ninth run of the October 29 Bold Ruler Stakes (G3), he won the Let’s Give Thanks and Blitzen Stakes at The Parx . Race in his first two games started for Ness.

“He’s a hard horse to train. I wouldn’t say the guys before me treated him with baby gloves, but that’s not what I do. We changed everything,” Ness said. “It’s not a physical problem. We trained him very hard and everything went well. We were lucky to have him and he responded to our program. “

Little Vic beat Tom Fool Handicap 2023 at Aqueduct — Photo: Coglianese Photos/Walter Wlodarczyk

Little Vic beat Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct

Repo Rocks, who will also carry with him the hopes of his owner and jockey for his first win in class 1, is assigned in the 122-pound high, two pounds more. baby Vic .

The field of seven for Carter features the unusual spectacle of every starter trying to win. Other major threats include C Two Racing Stable and Antonio Pagnano’s White Abarrio (Race day ) winner of last year’s Florida Derby (G1) and third place in last year’s Cigar Mile (G1) Handicap; Handicap winner Tom Fool (G3) Little Vic (Realistic jokes ); and Reddam Racing’s Today’s taste (Laoban), another winner of four consecutive races.