Lady Rocket Annihilates Go for Wand Rivals

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations and Ten Strike Racing's Lady Rocket  made every pole a winning one Dec. 4 in the $250,000 Go for Wand Handicap (G3), a one-turn mile handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Brad Cox and piloted by Irad Ortiz Jr. from post 2, Lady Rocket shook off an early challenge from Miss Marissa to establish the opening quarter-mile in :23.22 over the fast main track.

Lady Rocket, last-out winner of a division of the Oct. 31 Pumpkin Pie Stakes at Belmont Park, maintained her advantage through a half-mile in :46.54 with Miss Marissa stalking from the rail and Truth Hurts  racing to the inside of California shipper Bella Vita .

Sharp Starr , who won this event last year, rallied outside of Bella Vita through the turn but Lady Rocket found another gear, opening up a 4 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call en route to a nine-length score in a final time of 1:36.52.

Bella Vita, with Hall of Famer John Velazquez up, veered in down the lane near the path of a rallying Truth Hurts, under Tyler Gaffalione for trainer Chad Summers, but Bella Vita stayed on strong to complete the exacta 4 3/4-lengths clear of her rival. An objection by Summers for interference in the stretch was denied.

Sharp Starr, Honor Way , and Miss Marissa rounded out the order of finish. So Darn Hot  was scratched.

Ortiz Jr. said the Tale of the Cat  filly was full of run when asked.

"She was nice today. She's always tries hard. The mile was a question mark, but she handled it really well," Ortiz said. "I was waiting, biding my time. I just took it easy and tried to get her to relax up front and she relaxed. She waited for my call and that was the key. This was one of her best performances in her whole career."

Dustin Dugas, an assistant to Cox, said a good break was paramount for Lady Rocket.

"We were kind of worried about the break and wanted to focus on her standing there," Dugas said. "Her very first start at Saratoga, she stumbled. She has this tendency to want to break too fast. We make sure she stands right and gets a good start. They did a great job getting her out of the gate today. We were expecting a big performance but she exceeded our expectations with that one."

Bred in Kentucky by La Ciega and Tale Of The Cat Syndicate, Lady Rocket banked $137,500 in victory, while improving her record 6-3-1 in 11 starts. She returned $4.40 for a $2 win bet.

Lady Rocket, a $420,000 purchase from Liz Crow of BSW Bloodstock at the 2019 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, captured the Pink Ribbon Stakes in August at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. She followed with an encouraging second to grade 1-winner Bella Sofia  in the Sept. 26 Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2) at Belmont ahead of her Pumpkin Pie coup.

She is the first stakes winner produced from the Eskendereya mare Allons Danser , who has a yearling colt by Get Stormy   and delivered a colt by Heart to Heart   this year.