Multiple Graded Stakes Winner Rocketry Retired

Multiple graded stakes winner Rocketry —a son of Hard Spun   with earnings of more than $811,000 and three track records to his credit—has been retired, according to an Aug. 13 announcement from Centennial Farms' co-owners Don Little Jr., Peter Horvitz, and Margaret O'Meara, and the many partners to whom he provided lifelong memories.

Bred by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, Rocketry commanded $195,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale when acquired by McMahon & Hill Bloodstock. Returned to Keeneland as part of the Hidden Brook consignment the following September, he drew the attention of Centennial's Dr. Stephen Carr and Paula Parsons, hammering for $450,000. Always an impressive individual, his popularity in the sales ring was also a testament to his pedigree, which includes a bevy of graded stakes horses. 

Like so many Centennial stars before him, Rocketry received his early education under Parsons and her team at the Middleburg Training Center, a place he'd return to throughout the years for vacations from a racing environment. He joined trainer Jimmy Jerkens at Belmont Park in June of his 2-year-old year, under whose care he would remain throughout his career.

Rocketry displayed what would become his trademark late-running style beginning with his first career start at Gulfstream Park. An impressive maiden score on turf at Belmont Park during the spring of his sophomore campaign marked him as one to watch. As a 3-year-old, he beat older horses at Saratoga Race Course and barely missed his first graded score, finishing behind only subsequent grade 1 winners Voodoo Song , Yoshida  , and future Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar  going 1 1/8 miles in the Saranac Stakes (G3T).

Rocketry would truly come into his own as a 4-year-old. His continuing maturity coincided with an increased fondness for dirt and he made the transition to the main track in September 2018. The switch resulted in a performance in the Temperence Hill Invitational Stakes that is unlikely to be matched—he stopped the clock in 2:40.18, breaking Man o' War's 98-year-old Belmont Park track record for 1 5/8 miles. He took his show on the road next out and picked up his first graded stakes victory. A late charge in the Marathon Stakes Presented by TAA (G2) established a new track record of 2:57.62 for 1 3/4 miles at famed Churchill Downs. 

While his unique style and preference for longer distances would make him vulnerable to pace and biases, he continued to deliver big performances over the subsequent seasons. At 5, he flew late and wide to finish second in the Woodford Reserve Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (G2). His 6-year-old campaign ended with an exclamation point as he set a third track record, this time going 1 5/8 miles in 2:42.57 at Keeneland, and picked up another graded victory in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes (G2). 

Rocketry's zest for training, the track environment, and his Jerkens Racing family never wavered during a three-race campaign in 2021. Although his 7-year-old season upped his black-type count to a total of nine races, the decision was made to retire him following a fourth-place effort in the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga.

Centennial Farms could not be more proud of his on-track accomplishments or more grateful of his status as a fan favorite. The two elements combined in spectacular fashion when one of his shoes worn in victory in the Temperence Hill topped a fundraising auction for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

While plans are being finalized for his retirement, "Rocky" has shipped to Centennial Farms in Middleburg, Va., to unwind, enjoy the spacious paddocks, and be spoiled.