Rock Me Baby flies late to take Albany

Rock Me Baby, “nowhere to be seen” by track announcer Michael Wrona at the eighth pole, unleashed a furious rally to win the $61,065 Albany Stakes by a length at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.

Rock Me Baby ($6) was last until finally getting into gear when circling five wide into the lane. He was still seventh at the eighth pole, eight lengths behind pacesetting Serbian Syclone.

But he dug in under jockey Corey Nakatani and began to move up from the outside and roared past the rest of the field to win the five-furlong turf race in 57.76 seconds.

“This horse has a lot of talent,” said Nakatani. “He’s a route horse, and I didn’t want to get his momentum stopped once I got him started. I was able to weave my way to the outside and let him do his running.”

Serbian Syclone, the lone 3-year-old in the field of eight, dominated on the lead but missed second by a head to Streamside. Streamside won a four-way photo for second over Serbian Syclone, favored Alert Bay, and Slycy.

Making his first start since Oct. 4, Rock Me Baby, a 5-year-old Rock Hard Ten gelding, was favored most of the way in the wagering until a delay at the gate led to a post time scratch of Shudacudawudya. Alert Bay, who had won five straight stakes, wound up the favorite.

Rock Me Baby, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by Craig Dollase, earned $39,550 for his seventh career victory in 19 starts. He has now earned $463,602.

“We came here because it was turf and I needed to get a race under his belt,” said Dollase, who explained the long layoff was necessitated by a bone injury.

“I was afraid it would be a little short, but I was hoping maybe class would tell in the final sixteenth [of a mile]. I call it worth three workouts. I needed to get him tight for Del Mar.”

Dollase said Rock Me Baby is being pointed to the California Dreamin’ Stakes, a race he won last year.