Harness: Rodeo Rock gearing up for Borgata Series at Yonkers

For Rodeo Rock, who won for the first time in over a year last Saturday at the Meadowlands, there is a hope that history will repeat. Stalled for much of the 2020 season trying to return from a bout with colic, trainer Robert Cleary hopes to be on the right track as he points the now 8-year-old towards the Borgata Pacing Series at Yonkers Raceway.

"I was very happy with that mile," Cleary said. "But he wasn't racing against the top class. We'll go in the first leg of the Borgata and see how he does."

With career earnings near $750K, Rodeo Rock has been the heart of Cleary's stable for many years. The trainer hopes to be able to forget last season entirely and that his horse is fully recovered now.

"It was a nightmare," said Cleary, describing his attempts to get Rodeo Rock back in form last year.

Following three consecutive years under Cleary's care where Rodeo Rock earned roughly $630K with 24 total victories, the son of Rock N Roll Heaven went winless in 14 starts, earning just $33,736 while unable to reach the top rung.

"He got sick right around the time of the Levy (Borgata)," Cleary said.

After some time off Rodeo Rock returned in February with one start from off-the-pace and then last week's 1:50 blowout front-end victory with Andrew McCarthy in the bike. The mile was punctuated by a 26 1/5 final quarter, with Rodeo Rock appearing well in-hand crossing the wire.

Still, Cleary is not ready to believe that Rodeo Rock will be able to march into Yonkers in two weeks and duplicate the feat he did in 2019 when he won an overnight at the Meadowlands and then captured the first leg of the Levy Series at Yonkers in his next start.

"I'm giving him this week off," said Cleary. "You have to race every week at Yonkers."

Rodeo Rock is the rightful pillar in the 18-horse Cleary stable, but the trainer had a string of 2-year-olds race last season that could vault into the spotlight in 2021, with the pacing filly Off The Record at the head of the list.

"She was a very big 2-year-old," Cleary said of Off The Record, who came to life late in her 2-year-old campaign. "She went a big trip winning a leg of the Kindergarten in 1:52 4/5, and then was second to Fire Start Hanover in the final."

Perhaps more impressive than just finishing second to the eventual division winner was the fact that Off The Record raced her final half without cover in a 1:51 1/5 mile.

A daughter of first-crop sire Always B Miki, Off The Record is the second foal and first filly from the $504K winner Southwind Silence, a Well Said-sired half-sister to Southwind Ozzi. Southwind Silence was the 2-year-old Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion filly in 2013 under the care of Ron Burke.

"She's definitely a big-track horse," said Cleary. "We'll probably go with her in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes over the five-eighths mile tracks."

Off The Record returned to active training on January 15 and is on schedule to race once stakes season gets underway.

Sometimes in the harness business you actually have to pay for your own success. That's why owner William Peshina's Royal Wire Products Inc. had to plunk down $280,000 at the 2019 Harrisburg auction to come away with Make My Deo, an American Ideal-sired half-brother to his own Rodeo Rock.

Despite racing just four times as a 2-year-old, Cleary was more than impressed with Make My Deo's ability from the outset. Case in point was an early-season second-place finish behind eventual Breeders Crown champion Summa Cum Laude in a 1:51 4/5 mile at the Meadowlands in July.

"I don't think the fast mile bothered him," said Cleary. "He'd already trained in 1:55 prior to racing and had a start at Pocono before."

Make My Deo's runner-up finish in the fast mile showed Cleary something he was looking for.

"Brian (Sears) didn't try to keep up with Summa Cum Laude, he just let Make My Deo fight for second, and he won that battle," Cleary said.

Make My Deo would take a 1:54 1/5 record at Harrah's Philadelphia in his next start and race just once more in a New York Sire Stakes race before his first season ended.

"He had a slight injury, and there was no point in pushing him, so we backed off. I think he'll be a much better 3-year-old," said Cleary.

In Lou Of Money is another 3-year-old that showed plenty of promise as a juvenile and is training back nicely. The daughter of Sweet Lou, as a dual-eligible in the states of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, captured a division of the Kentucky Commonwealth at The Red Mile last September.

"She was very impressive winning in 1:52 2/5," said Cleary.

The trainer confided that the time spent in Kentucky didn't serve the filly well at all as she continued to lose weight in the month she spent in the Bluegrass state and never quite returned to form when she came north.

Cleary was very happy with how Sweet Lucy Lou qualified last weekend at the Meadowlands and will have her entered at the East Rutherford, New Jersey, track.

"She's definitely a big-track horse," Cleary said as to why she wasn't nominated for the Blue Chip Matchmaker, scheduled to commence in the coming weeks.

Sweet Lucy Lou, now a 5-year-old, justified Cleary's belief in her finishing fourth in last year's Breeders Crown Mare Pace at Harrah's Hoosier Park.

Cleary is also hopeful that his 2-year-olds will emerge in a few months from now. With seven babies in training, he suggested that there were two by Captaintreacherous, one by first-crop sire Huntsville, and another by the reliable Sweet Lou, that are pointing in the right direction.

With the Borgata just a few weeks away, Cleary is hoping Rodeo Rock brings the one attribute he has in abundance: "Powerful," said Cleary, "Is the one word I would use to describe him."