Repo Rocks Leading the Charge in the Stymie
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Joe Labozzetta
Repo Rocks wins the Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct
Double B Racing Stables' Repo Rocks brings a three-race win streak into the $125,000 Stymie Stakes, a one-turn mile contest for older horses Feb. 25 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Repo Rocks is undefeated in three starts since joining the barn of trainer Jamie Ness, posting increasing Equibase Speed Figures for scores at Parx Racing in the Let's Give Thanks Stakes (103) in November and Blitzen Stakes (105) Jan. 4 ahead of a 120 when making the grade in the seven-furlong Toboggan Stakes (G3) Jan. 28 at Aqueduct.
Repo Rocks, piloted by Andrew Wolfsont throughout the streak, settled in third position in the Toboggan as Pirate Rick led Little Vic through splits of :22.86 and :45.76 over the fast main track. Wolfsont angled his charge three-wide at the quarter-pole and took command at the three-sixteenths en route to an 8 1/2-length score at odds of 10-1 in a final time of 1:23.42.
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"It was a great effort. Did I think he'd run that good—no," said Ness. "But I really liked him in that race. I have a lot of good horses here and he'd been working like a horse that could run that number, and he did. He backed up his training. Yes, I was surprised at the margin of victory, but I wasn't surprised by the win. That's what he showed me in the morning and he's shown no indication since that it will drop off."
Ness said Repo Rocks should appreciate added ground with a good result in the Stymie potentially setting up bigger races down the road.
"We pushed to seven-eighths last time and a mile this time. We're getting closer to where he needs to be. Let's do it once and then we'll see if he can do it again," Ness said.
He boasts a 7-6-6 record from 32 starts and $570,871 in earnings.
Calumet Farm's Kentucky homebred Bourbonic will hope a pace battle develops for his closing kick.
Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old son of Bernardini rose to prominence with a last-to-first head score at odds of 72-1 in the 2021 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct.
Bourbonic was off for nearly one full calendar year, returning to action Dec. 3 at Aqueduct with a closing fourth in an optional claimer ahead of another fourth in the Queens County—both outings with Kendrick Carmouche up.
He added blinkers for a rallying optional-claiming score under Dylan Davis in a one-mile optional claimer Feb. 5 at the Big A that garnered a career-best 103 Equibase Speed Figure, besting an in-form Sheriff Bianco by a half-length.
Byron Hughes, Pletcher's New York-based assistant, said Carmouche—who is out injured and slated to return on March 3—suggested the team put blinkers back on Bourbonic.
"We thought that first race back would set him up for the stakes, but he didn't have the blinkers on then," Hughes said. "Kendrick thought he might benefit from putting the blinkers back on and he was right."
Pletcher shares the record for most Stymie wins (three) with fellow conditioners Bruce Levine, Gary Contessa, and Gasper Moschera. Pletcher's past Stymie winners include Manchurian (2006), Understatement (2010), and Vino Rosso (2019).
Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta's multiple graded-stakes placed Miles D has made just two starts since ending his 2021 campaign with a half-length score over Speaker's Corner in the 1 1/8-mile Discovery Stakes that November at Aqueduct. Speaker's Corner exited the Discovery to win three consecutive graded events in 2022, culminating in the Carter Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct.
Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, Miles D returned to action last February with a third-place finish in the Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Racecourse & Slots. He resurfaced Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park with a distant seventh in the Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3).
Manny Franco, who won this event with Turco Bravo (2016), Sunny Ridge (2017), and Mr. Buff (2021), is one win shy of the Stymie record held by Hall of Famer Jorge Velasquez.
Joseph E. Sutton's multiple stakes-placed Far Mo Power crossed the wire first in the Parx Dirt Mile in September, besting multiple grade 1 winner Mind Control by a neck only to be disqualified and placed second for interference late in the lane.
Trained by Louis Linder Jr., the 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred son of Uncle Lino boasts a record of 6-3-1 from 12 starts.
Rounding out a competitive field are the multiple stakes-placed Tough Tickets for conditioner Harold Wyner; and five-time winner Black Belt for trainer Peter Walder.
Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, February 25, 2023, Race 8Entries: Stymie S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Bourbonic (KY)
Dylan Davis
118
Todd A. Pletcher
7/2
2
2Far Mo Power (PA)
Dexter Haddock
118
Louis C. Linder, Jr.
9/2
3
3Repo Rocks (VA)
Andrew Wolfsont
124
Jamie Ness
6/5
4
4Black Belt (KY)
Eric Cancel
118
Peter R. Walder
10/1
5
5Tough Tickets (KY)
Ruben Silvera
118
Harold Wyner
12/1
6
6Miles D (KY)
Manuel Franco
118
Chad C. Brown
3/1
