Rock Fall to Join His Sire at WinStar Farm

Stonestreet Stables' leading sprinter Rock Fall, winner of the $400,000 Vosburgh Stakes (gr. I) Sept. 26 at Belmont Park, will stand alongside his sire Speightstown   at WinStar Farm when he retires at the conclusion of 2015.

Fresh off his seventh straight victory, and second straight grade I score, Rock Fall will likely be the favorite when he lines up later this month in the $2 million TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), a race his sire won 11 years ago en route to capturing Eclipse honors as champion sprinter. Todd Pletcher trains Rock Fall and conditioned his sire. 

"I am thrilled that our outstanding sprinter Rock Fall will enter stud alongside stablemate Carpe Diem at WinStar Farm for the 2016 season," said Barbara Banke, owner of Stonestreet Stables. "Rock Fall offers breeders the opportunity to capture his impressive physical, raw talent, consistent speed, and pure heart in future generations. He's a first-season horse that should make everyone's list."

WinStar president Elliott Walden added: "Speightstown is on the verge of exploding as a sire of sires with the high-quality colts he's had, but Rock Fall is the one we've been waiting for to stand alongside his sire. We love this colt, and everyone who's been connected with Speightstown, including Todd Pletcher, has raved about how much Rock Fall reminds them of his sire. We are honored to have him, and I really believe he possesses every quality of Speightstown to replicate him as a leading sire for years to come."

Rock Fall burst onto the scene early last year as a 3-year-old, breaking his maiden at Belmont by 9 1/4 lengths and the speedy dark bay colt hasn't lost since. During his seven-race win streak, he's broken 1:10 for six furlongs on six different occasions, and broken 1:09 in his past three wins, all graded stakes in New York.

Rock Fall captured his first graded victory in the $250,000 True North Stakes (gr. II), a dominant 3 3/4-length win in 1:08.37. He followed that performance with another win over top sprinters in the $350,000 Vanderbilt Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course, blitzing six furlongs in 1:08.75.

In last Saturday's Vosburgh, Rock Fall stopped the clock in 1:08.70 and earned a berth into the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland, where he owns a nine-length allowance win from earlier this spring. Rock Fall has earned $749,180 to date for Stonestreet Stables.

"Rock Fall reminds me of his sire Speightstown quite a bit," Pletcher said. "It's rare for a sprinter at that level to be this consistent, but he has a lot of fight to go along with all of that natural talent."

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock LLC and a $250,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling, Rock Fall hails from the multiple stakes-winning mare Renda, who was the first winner and first stakes winner from the debut crop of leading sire Medaglia d'Oro  .