Rockcrest the speed in stakes-quality allowance

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Rarely can you say that a horse ran a huge race while finishing sixth, but Rockcrest fits the bill in Sunday’s featured ninth race at Woodbine, a conditioned allowance with an $80,000 claiming option.

Rockcrest has evolved into one of the top sprinters on the grounds. The handsome gray won both of his starts in the spring with Beyer Speed Figures in the upper 90s, including the Pink Lloyd Stakes.

Normally a front-runner, Rockcrest went into a three-wide chasing mode most recently over yielding turf in the Grade 2 Nearctic. He hit the front in midstretch and looked the part of a winner with a sixteenth left before getting swallowed up late. When the smoke cleared, he was beaten a mere half-length but his sixth-place check was worth just $3,000, a far cry from the $150,000 earned by victorious Big Invasion, who is Breeders’ Cup-bound.

After breaking from post 3, Rockcrest could be the controlling speed Friday under Keveh Nicholls, who will get a leg up from owner/trainer Nigel Burke.

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The six-furlong Tapeta event lured a mixed bag of 10, including Canadian champion Hazelbook and stakes winners Secret Reserve, Roaring Forties, Old Chestnut, and Silent Runner.

Hazelbrook, the 2022 Sovereign Award-winning champion female sprinter, is entered in the Keeneland November sale as a racing or broodmare prospect. Victorious in three stakes last year, Hazelbrook has just a third to her credit from four appearances at the meet and is taking on the boys for the first time in her career.

Secret Reserve captured the 2022 Bold Venture Stakes and was fourth in that Grade 3 sprint in his penultimate start. The 5-year-old is exiting his best performance of the year, a head loss behind divisional leader Patches O’Houlihan and Last American Exit in the Grade 3 Vigil.

Roaring Forties wired Florida-breds at Gulfstream in the Jan. 21 Sunshine Millions Turf. The durable veteran has maintained solid grass form since then and is a capable Tapeta runner when he’s in the zone.

Old Chestnut had a ground-saving trip before finishing a close sixth in the Sept. 16 Vigil. He was previously third in the Bold Venture and has been well worth the $32,000 that trainer Marty Drexler claimed him for last October. The 6-year-old won the Ontario Racing Stakes at 2.

Silent Runner has been in a tailspin for more than a year and is returning from freshening as a new gelding. The 4-year-old won an Ontario-sired stakes at both 2 and 3.

The two new shooters in the lineup are Flag of Honour and Senbei.

Flag of Honour is making his first start with Lasix for trainer Julia Carey. The Australian import has been idle since landing a May 6 handicap going about six furlongs on the grass. His sire, American Pharoah, has produced 15 percent winners in synthetic sprints.

Based at Belmont with trainer Christophe Clement, Senbei is making his first start since a troubled seventh in an Aug. 24 turf sprint at Saratoga. The successful New York-bred is a son of Candy Ride, who has sired 17 percent winners in synthetic sprints.

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