Stakes Winner Rock Me Baby Retired, Adopted

West Point Thoroughbreds' multiple stakes winner Rock Me Baby has been retired from racing and has been adopted by one of the partners who raced the 6-year-old gelded son of Rock Hard Ten.



West Point Thoroughbreds president Terry Finley said Rock Me Baby was retired sound following a fifth-place finish in the Walter R. Cluer Memorial Stakes at Turf Paradise Nov. 28.



Rock Me Baby retired with an overall record of 7-6-2 from 24 starts and earnings of $494,454.



"He's such a neat horse who was was a pleasure to have in the barn these past three years," Finley said in a release. "He didn't debut until the end of his 3-year-old year, but proved to be worth the wait. 'Rocky' took his partners on a fun ride and we owe it to him to retire sound with the ability to move on to a second career. He's been adopted by one of his partners."



Rock Me Baby won the California Dreamin' Handicap over Del Mar's former synthetic surface and the Albany Stakes on grass at Golden Gate Fields. He placed in five additional stakes, including a second in the Del Mar Mile Handicap (gr. IIT).



"Rock Me Baby is one of the hardest-knocking horses I've been around, having hit the board in 15 of 24 starts," said trainer Craig Dollase. "His biggest win came in the 2014 California Dreamin' Handicap at Del Mar and he came really close to becoming a graded stakes winner in the Del Mar Mile that same year. In 2013, he was beaten only three lengths in the (2013) Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (gr. IT) at Santa Anita."



Bred in California by Madeleine A. Pickens and Mercedes Stable LLC, Rock Me Baby is out of the Tale of the Cat mare Barbara Orr, who was runner-up in the 2004 Rancho Bernardo (gr. III). Second dam Forli's Slew is a half sister to two-time Horse of the Year Cigar. 



Initially purchased by Wavertree Stables for $40,000 at the 2010 Barretts October yearling sale, Rock Me Baby was bought by West Point (Buzz Chace, agent) for $210,000 from the Wavertree consignment to the 2011 Barretts March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training.