Rockemperor possible for Breeders' Cup Turf
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown said he wanted to give it a little time before making a final decision, but Rockemperor may have earned a shot at the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf with his 2 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park.
Rockemperor, who had come close in graded stakes last year but who had gone off form recently, delivered a strong effort Saturday in which he rallied from next-to-last to win the Hirsch over stablemate Serve the King.
Rockemperor was running with a new bit - a ring bit that gave jockey Javier Castellano more control - and without blinkers. Rockemperor had been keen in some of his more recent races, so Brown decided to remover the blinkers.
“He’s had some tough defeats,” Brown said Sunday. “He’s run really well with blinkers and without them; he’s just missed in some races and he’s disappointed us a couple of times. Yesterday, I was proud of the way the horse behaved, I was proud of how we prepared him and I was proud of Javier and the decisions he made during the race.”
Rockemperor is a 5-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor owned by Sol Kumin’s Madaket Stable and Michael Dubb. On Sunday, Kumin’s first inclination was to run in the Breeders’ Cup.
Brown said Sunday he didn’t think the Breeders’ Cup would be next for Joe Hirsch runner-up Serve the King, who was racing for the first time in a Grade 1 stakes. A race like the Grade 2, $200,000 Red Smith at Aqueduct on Nov. 20 could be more likely.
“He doesn’t quite have the body of work to think about jumping all the way over [to California] and running against the likes of Domestic Spending, and perhaps Mishriff and Tarnawa.”
Brown's 1-2 finish in the Joe Hirsch was one of four graded stakes since Sept. 25 in which Brown has run 1-2. That included Saturday’s Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland, where Blowout held off Regal Glory by a half-length.
Though the First Lady was a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Brown said Blowout wouldn’t run in that 1 3/8-miles race.
Brown said, if anything, he would consider the Breeders’ Cup Mile for Blowout, but is more likely to point her to the Grade 1, $400,000 Matriarch at Del Mar on Nov. 28. Blowout suffered a narrow loss to stablemate Viadera in last year’s Matriarch.
Brown said Regal Glory would definitely await the Matriarch.