Rockcrest back home at Woodbine for Thorncliffe Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Several of Woodbine’s top sprinters will meet in Sunday’s $100,000 Thorncliffe Stakes, including Rockcrest, who could be peaking in the 5 1/2-furlong overnight stakes on Tapeta.

Owned and trained by Nigel Burke, Rockcrest was the divisional leader last spring, during which he won a conditioned allowance/optional claimer and the Pink Lloyd Stakes. He tailed off late in the fall and got a break over the winter before starting twice at Gulfstream.

Rockcrest ran seventh off the layoff in the March 9 Silks Run Stakes on good turf before a commendable third-place finish in a March 24 dirt experiment. The stocky 7-year-old has been working right along, including a bullet five furlongs with company in 58.60 seconds here last Sunday. Rachel Slevinsky, riding without her apprentice allowance, has the mount on “Rocky.”

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

Candy Overload could go favored off his victorious seasonal debut in the six-furlong Big Daddy Stakes over Turfway’s Tapeta on March 9. A stretch-runner trained by Mark Casse, the son of Reload won the Grade 2 Kennedy Road in 2022 and last year’s Forego Stakes at Turfway, before a runner-up placing in the inaugural Pink Lloyd.

Casse supplemented restricted stakes winner Armstrong, who was a clear second behind Ironstone the last time he started here Dec. 10 in a conditioned allowance/optional claimer.

Flag of Honour wintered in Ontario and has been idle since taking last year’s Kennedy Road by a nose over the talented Ice Chocolat, for which he got a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. The Australian import came off a six-month layoff to finish a close third in his North American debut in a conditioned allowance/optional claimer on Oct. 29.

“He missed the break in that first [Woodbine] start, but he ran well, and it set him up nicely for the Kennedy Road,” trainer Julie Carey recalled. “I think what impressed me the most in that win was the way he fought to the finish. He gave it his all. It was only his second race here, he had done a lot of traveling, and we had a few minor issues along the way, but he gave 100 percent. It was very impressive.”

Ironstone, the troubled fourth-place finisher in the 2023 Kennedy Road, was a well-beaten seventh in his Feb. 24 comeback in the Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes on dirt. Trained by Willy Armata, he has worked in his usual brisk manner on the Tapeta leading up to this engagement, including a bullet five-eighths breeze in 1:00 last Saturday.

Trainer Michael Trombetta entered Biz Biz Buzz and Sky’s Not Falling.

Biz Biz Buzz won his last synthetic-track start in a five-furlong allowance for Florida-breds late in 2022 before evolving into a successful turf sprinter.

Sky’s Not Falling has been freshened since a subpar performance in the Feb. 24 Turf Dash Stakes at Tampa. He has worked quickly on Tapeta at his Fair Hill Training Center base in Maryland.

Rounding out the field are Jazz Hands and the supplement Light the Lamp.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.