Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Rockefeller just might stick around for Remsen
Rockefeller, who won Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park, could stay in New York and point to the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.
In California, there is basically one important stakes remaining this year for 2-year-old males – the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 11 – and Baffert has Messier and potentially others pointing to that race. Several of the same owners are involved in both Messier and Rockefeller.
The Remsen is run at 1 1/8 miles around two turns.
“I’ve got a week to think about it,” Baffert said, noting that Rockefeller wouldn’t be scheduled to ship back to California until the end of the week. “He handled everything really well. He came back good.”
Baffert chose the Nashua for Rockefeller once he ruled out the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for him. Rockefeller, a debut winner sprinting on Aug. 28 at Del Mar, had finished fourth, seven lengths behind Corniche, in the Grade 1 American Pharoah on Oct. 1. Corniche and Pappacap, who ran one-two in the American Pharoah, came back to run one-two in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar.
In the Nashua, Rockefeller broke from the rail under Luis Saez and was a half-length in front of Speaking through a quarter in 23.02 seconds and half in 46.75. He opened up a 1 1/2-length advantage at the quarter pole and, despite not changing leads until deep stretch, won comfortably over the previously unbeaten Cooke Creek.
Rockefeller, a son of Medaglia d’Oro out of the Grade 1-winning mare Dance to Bristol, covered the mile in 1:36.66 and earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He doesn’t switch leads in his races,” Baffert said. “He finally did switch at the end. In the [American Pharoah] he really got tired chasing Corniche. He wasn’t ready for that.”
Should Rockefeller run in the Remsen, one of his challengers could be Unbridled Bomber, who upset a field of well-bred, highly regarded first-time starters to win a one-mile maiden race in Sunday’s second race. Unbridled Bomber, a son of Upstart trained and owned in part by Jim Ryerson, ran a mile in 1:37.49 and earned a 71 Beyer. He was making his fourth start.
Independence Hall eyes Cigar
While still basking in the glow of Aloha West’s nose victory in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar, owner Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners said Sunday that Independence Hall will likely make his next start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct.
The other option is the Grade 1, $750,000 Clark on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs, but Wellman said he and the other owners, Twin Creeks Racing and WinStar Farm, are leaning toward the Cigar Mile for Independence Hall, recent winner of the Fayette Stakes at Keeneland.
It was in 2019 at Aqueduct where Independence Hall had his coming-out party, winning the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes by 12 1/4 lengths for then-trainer Mike Trombetta. He followed that up with a four-length win in the Jerome on New Year’s Day 2020. Both of those races were run at a one-turn mile.
“That’s a quirky surface and he’s shown an affinity for that surface,” Wellman said Sunday at Del Mar. “There’s a huge amount of prestige that goes with the Cigar Mile. WinStar has thrown their support behind him, and the Cigar Mile could take him to another level as far as his stallion career is concerned.”
Independence Hall will stand stud at WinStar in 2022. The Cigar Mile is expected to be his final race.
Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz Jr. win titles
Chad Brown won his 10th consecutive Belmont Park fall meet title, winning 29 races from 111 starters at the meet, which ended Sunday. He won 13 stakes, and his purse earnings were a meet-best $3.79 million. Todd Pletcher (20), Linda Rice (16), Christophe Clement (16), and Rudy Rodriguez rounded out the top five.
In what was a tight jockey race heading into closing day, Irad Ortiz Jr. won three races on Sunday’s card to take the title with 33 wins, one more than his brother Jose and two more than Luis Saez. All three had 30 wins heading into the final card.
It was Ortiz’s sixth Belmont fall riding title, and his first since 2018. Jose Ortiz was leading rider in 2020, and Manny Franco won the title in 2019.
Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables was leading owner with eight wins. Jason Provenzano’s Flying P Stables and Michael Dubb finished in a tie for second with seven wins.