Repo Rocks will try to get a mile in Stymie Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Repo Rocks, whose 111 Beyer Speed Figure earned winning the Grade 3 Toboggan at Aqueduct on Jan. 28 is the highest recorded by any horse so far in 2023, was one of six horses entered Monday for Saturday’s $125,000 Stymie Stakes at Aqueduct.
Repo Rocks is 3 for 3 since being moved to trainer Jamie Ness, who is based at Parx Racing where the horse won two listed stakes before his breakthrough effort in the Toboggan, which he won by 8 1/2 lengths. The Stymie is run at a mile, a distance at which Repo Rocks has not run since December 2020 when he finished fifth in a maiden race here. Repo Rocks is a 5-year-old gelding who is 7 for 32 lifetime, with all his wins coming from six to seven furlongs.
Ness said from what he’s seen, Repo Rocks should be effective at a mile and perhaps a little farther.
“I said from the get-go I don’t know why they were sprinting him,” Ness said. “This horse, he’s got a big, long stride like a [two] turns horse.”
Repo Rocks has worked twice since the Toboggan, including a half-mile in 47.31 seconds Monday morning at Parx.
“The work this morning was exceptional. He couldn’t be doing any better going into Saturday’s race,” Ness said.
Andrew Wolfsont, who won Sunday’s Maddie May Stakes here aboard 27-1 shot Cairo Sugar, will be back up from Parx to ride Repo Rocks.
Parx-based runners Far Mo Power and Tough Tickets are also part of the Stymie field, which includes Florida shippers Miles D and Black Belt as well as 2021 Wood Memorial upset winner Bourbonic.
Saturday’s card also features the $100,000 Gander Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds going one mile. Maker’s Candy, a 6 3/4-length maiden winner here on Jan. 29 for trainer Mike Maker, heads a five-horse field that includes D’ont Lose Cruz, Dr. Kraft, Neural Network, and Starquist.
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