Rocketry Soars Home in Final Moments to Win Marathon
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Photo: Adrianna Lynch
Rocketry is led to the winner's circle after his victory in the Marathon Stakes at Churchill Downs
With Bob Baffert mid-sentence in his post-race interview following Game Winner's victory in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), the trainer paused to watch as the field broke from the gate in the $200,000 Marathon Stakes Presented by TAA (G2) at Churchill Downs.
"There goes Dabster, number 2!" Baffert exclaimed, cheering for his 4-year-old trainee. "Oh, he's going to be so mad at me when he finds out he has another turn to go around."
And for a moment, it looked as though the son of Curlin would defy the doubts of his trainer and pull off a win in the 1 3/4-mile test, until Centennial Farms' Rocketry found his opening and blasted home.
After a sharp break from the gate, Dabster took the lead under jockey Joe Talamo and put a length and a half between himself and Honorable Duty in second. The colt was still ahead as the field hit the mile mark in 1:41.72, but came under increased pressure from Honorable Duty and Toast of New York as the field entered the far turn.
Bumped at the break, Rocketry, with Joel Rosario up, settled into seventh in the nine-horse field and bided his time, and eased five wide to the outside, waiting for the opportune moment to make his move.
With Dabster still in front by a head as the field entered stretch, Baffert let loose with another cheer, cutting off yet another question from curious reporters.
"Look at him!" Baffert said. "He's going to try and win it for me."
But a hard-charging Rocketry timed his last move to perfection. As Rocketry cut through the center of the pack with a massive kick to issue a late challenge, Dabster found himself suddenly fighting, and failing, to maintain command as Rocketry powered forward.
Under a hand ride from Rosario, Rocketry edged past the leader to hit the wire three-quarters of a length in front of Dabster. The final time was 2:57.62.
"We had a great trip even with how long the race was," Rosario said following the win. "This horse tries so hard every time and it says a lot about a horse's ability when they continue to try hard after running that distance."
It was another 4 1/4 lengths back to Big Dollar Bill in third. Toast of New York took fourth and was followed by Senior Investment, War Story, Term of Art, Finglas, and Honorable Duty to complete the order of finish.
Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, the Marathon marked the first graded score and first trip around the Louisville oval for Rocketry, a 4-year-old son of Hard Spun . The colt entered the race off a win in the Sept. 30 Temperance Hill Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, out of the winning Smart Strike mare Smart Farming, Rocketry was purchased for $450,000 by Centennial from Hidden Brook's consignment to the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Rocketry improved his record to 5-3-2 from 16 starts with $497,370 in earnings.