Aqueduct Racetrack Notes

NYRA PRESS OFFICE —-

Repo Rocks registers career-best 111 BSF in G3 Toboggan
Drafted on target for G3 Tom Fool Handicap
Undefeated Malibu Moonshine points to $100K Ruthless; Kool Kathmandu to target Jimmy Winkfield

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Double B Racing Stables’ Repo Rocks and jockey Andrew Wolfsont both secured their first graded wins with an emphatic 8 1/2-length score in Saturday’s Grade 3 Toboggan at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Repo Rocks tracked a close third down the backstretch, sitting two lengths behind the early tempo of Pirate Rick. He made a three-wide move around the far turn, opening up a four-length advantage at the stretch call and completing the seven furlongs in 1:23.42 over the fast main track. The astonishing effort garnered a 111 Beyer Speed Figure.

The Toboggan was the third consecutive score for Repo Rocks since joining the stable of trainer Jamie Ness. The 5-year-old dark bay or brown son of Tapiture joined Ness in November and captured the Let’s Give Thanks on November 23 and the Blitzen on January 4 – both at Parx Racing – en route to the Toboggan.

Ness said he believes Repo Rocks could be even more effective when stretching out with an eye towards a start in the $125,000 Stymie, a one-turn mile for older horses on February 25 at the Big A.

“I think seven-eighths to a one-turn mile will hit him right between the eyes,” said Ness. “All options are on the table, but I’m looking at the Stymie. I think that race would be a perfect fit for him.”

The Grade 3 General George on February 18 at Laurel Park also could be a potential landing spot for Repo Rocks, but Ness said he plans on pointing multiple stakes-placed Yodel E. A. Who to the seven-furlong test.

Repo Rocks was second in last year’s Toboggan before finishing a distant third in the six-furlong Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct while being trained by Juan Vazquez. He picked up more stakes placings when he moved to the barn of conditioner Gregory DiPrima, finishing third behind Life Is Good in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud in July at Belmont Park and second in the restricted Tale of the Cat in August at Saratoga Race Course.

Bred in Virginia by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, III, Repo Rocks is out of the Not For Love mare Hawaiian Love. He boasts a 32-7-6-6 record and $570,871 in earnings.

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Drafted on target for G3 Tom Fool Handicap

Dublin Fjord Stables, Racepoint Stables, Kevin D. Hilbert and Thomas O’Keefe’s Drafted rallied to finish third in his title defense of Saturday’s Grade 3 Toboggan, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by David Duggan and piloted by Luis Rodriguez Castro, the 9-year-old Field Commission gelding made his usual late run to finish 1 1/4-lengths back of runner-up Little Vic, who was a further 8 1/2-lengths back of the victorious Repo Rocks. The winner garnered a lofty 111 Beyer Speed Figure, while Drafted registered a 92 Beyer, which was just one point less than the number earned for his nose score over Little Vic in the six-furlong Gravesend on December 30 here.

Duggan said Drafted exited the effort in good order and will point to the six-furlong Grade 3, $150,000 Tom Fool Handicap on March 4 here.

“I’m not disappointed. He ran his race and showed up. We just got beat by a better horse on the day that ran a huge number,” Duggan said. “I’d love to have got second, but we were never going to beat the winner. He came back out of it physically fine and we’ll come back prepared for next time which will more than likely be the Tom Fool.”

Duggan said his multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire is effective at both six and seven furlongs.

“It doesn’t seem to make a difference for him numbers wise,” Duggan said. “We had a fast enough pace yesterday and it didn’t make a difference. There was no way we were going to beat the winner. The second horse is a legitimate horse and we mugged him the last time and he got us back yesterday. We run consistent 90-plus numbers and that gets you a piece of the cake, but Repo Rocks ran a Group 1 performance yesterday.”

Bred in Florida by John Foster, Barbara Hooker and Field Commission Partnership, Drafted boasts a ledger of 34-10-3-5 for purse earnings of $1,175,443.

“He’s been a banner horse for us and he seems to keep going just like the Energizer Bunny,” said Duggan, with a laugh.

Duggan said Highland Yard’s multiple stakes-placed Snicket was retired following her third-place finish in the What A Summer on January 21 at Laurel Park.

“She came back out of that race fine and she’s off to be a mother now. She has an expensive date ahead of her with War Front,” Duggan said.

The 6-year-old New York-bred daughter of Lemon Drop Kid is out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Ever So Pretty, who is a full-sister to Grade 1-winner Stormello and graded-stakes winner My Best Brother; as well as being a half-sibling to graded-stakes winner Gala Award.

Snicket retired with a ledger of 30-4-11-4 for purse earnings of $408,410, including a runner-up effort in the state-bred Union Avenue in August at Saratoga Race Course. All four of her wins came at the Big A.

“She got some black type in open company which boosted her value and stature and solidified her as a mare,” Duggan said. “It’s an adage to the New York program to have a filly like this that can be competitive in New York company and then add some value in open company. I’d like to have 10 of them in the barn like her.”

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Undefeated Malibu Moonshine points to $100K Ruthless; Kool Kathmandu to target Jimmy Winkfield

Happy Face Racing Stable’s undefeated Maryland-bred Malibu Moonshine will look to keep her perfect record intact in Saturday’s $100,000 Ruthless, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Charlton Baker, the daughter of Bourbon Courage arrives from a last-to-first score in the seven-furlong Gin Talking on December 30 at Laurel Park where she showed an impressive turn of foot to claim her second stakes victory by 1 3/4 lengths over Give Me Kisses. The third-place finisher in that event, Stonewall Star, was an emphatic 6 1/4-length winner of the Franklin Square against New York-breds in her next outing on January 22. Malibu Moonshine earned a 66 Beyer Speed Figure for her winning effort.

“She’s got that turn of foot – she doesn’t break sharp and she takes a few strides to get herself going, but she makes a nice run,” said Baker. “She has the will to win. I think she might be OK at a mile too, but seven-eighths is good for her.”

Malibu Moonshine’s other two victories came in a debut maiden score in September at Pimlico Race Course and her first stakes conquest in the Maryland Juvenile Filly on December 3 at Laurel, both coming in similar off-the-pace fashion. She made her final preparations for the Ruthless Sunday, covering five furlongs in 1:03.33 over Belmont Park’s dirt training track.

“She’s got a lot of class to her and she breezed pretty good this morning,” said Baker. “She’s nice and it seems like nothing bothers her. Everything is looking good.”

Happy Face Racing Stable also campaigns promising maiden winner Kool Kathmandu, who will target the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield, a six-furlong test for sophomores, on February 11 at the Big A.

The grey son of Frosted was a pacesetting winner at second asking in a six-furlong maiden on December 16 here, leading at every point of call before widening his margins down the stretch and winning in-hand by 5 1/2 lengths.

“He’s OK and he’s doing good,” said Baker. “We tried to run him in the ‘a-other-than’ the other day and it didn’t fill, so we’ll try the stake. Then we’ll give him a little break for the rest of the winter.”

The $25,000 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale purchase first began his conditioning with Baker last spring, but did not make his debut until a third-place effort in November at Aqueduct. Baker said Kool Kathmandu has been worth the wait.

“He’s always shown potential and he got to me early, but it just took him a while to get going,” Baker said. “We had to geld him and he needed to mature.”

Kool Kathmandu will look to add to a solid stakes-winning ledger of his immediate family. His second dam, Katarica Disco, produced seven six-figure earners and three stakes winners, including his dam, Fat Kat, and multiple stakes winners Disco Ebo and Smooth B.

Baker welcomed dual stakes-placed Stone Creator back to his barn last month after six months away from the work tab. A New York homebred for Roddy Valente, Stone Creator flashed her ability early last year with a debut maiden win in January that was followed by runner-up efforts against fellow state-breds in the Maddie May and East View, all at the Big A.

The 4-year-old daughter of Creative Cause posted another runner-up effort in allowance company before finishing an even fifth in her last start before her respite in May at Belmont. Baker said Stone Creator has relished her time away from the races.

“She’s getting close and is a few works away from running,” Baker said. “She showed talent early on and then she kind of fell apart a little and got nervous. She came back this year and she’s a lot quieter, so that’s a good thing. I think after her first race she got hyper and she was kind of throwing the race being that way. We’ll bring her back in an allowance and she what she can do.”

Out of the Empire Maker mare Stone Maker, a half-sister to Valente’s multiple graded stakes-winning New York stallion Bustin Stones, Stone Creator has banked $97,700 through a lifetime record of 5-1-3-0.