C Z Rocket taking a look at Pat O'Brien Stakes
C Z Rocket closed with a rush to finish a fine third in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs on July 31 at Del Mar. But the loss left trainer Peter Miller aggravated and convinced the track was not suited to the five-time stakes winner’s closing style.
C Z Rocket will have another chance for a Del Mar stakes win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs, if Miller chooses to run the 7-year-old gelding.
“We entered him,” Miller said Wednesday morning. “We’ll take a look and see how the field looks and how the track plays.”
Florent Geroux has been the regular rider of C Z Rocket this year and will travel to Del Mar for the third time this summer for the mount.
In the Bing Crosby, C Z Rocket was beaten a neck by Dr. Schivel and Eight Rings.
“He ran super,” Miller said. “The horse ran his heart out. He was swimming upstream.”
Dr. Schivel is not part of the field for the $200,000 Pat O’Brien, but Eight Rings is a probable starter along with the brilliantly quick Brickyard Ride, who could set a pace for C Z Rocket to follow. Brickyard Ride set the pace in the Bing Crosby and faded to finish fifth.
The winner of the Pat O’Brien receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Dirt Mile on Nov. 6. If C Z Rocket wins, Miller said the BC Sprint remains a goal. C Z Rocket was second to Whitmore in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland.
Miller already has a leading contender for the Breeders’ Cup with turf miler Mo Forza, who won his first start of 2021 in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile last Saturday, edging Smooth Like Strait by a head. Hit the Road was a game third in his first start since April.
Those three could have a rematch in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile on Oct. 2 at Santa Anita.
Mo Forza will benefit from an additional start before an expected appearance in the BC Mile on Nov. 6, Miller said.
“He came out of the race in excellent shape,” Miller said. “I’d like to get another start before the Breeders’ Cup. It will be another test.”