Rocket Time finally firing for Stall

With a front-running 2 1/2-length victory under Calvin Borel in the overnight Tenacious Stakes last Sunday, Rocket Time has trainer Al Stall Jr. looking for a logical next stakes race for the gelding.

After being set back by physical issues, Rocket Time, a 3-year-old son of Tiz Wonderful, finally is firing.

A $150,000 purchase by owner Frank Fletcher as a 2-year-old in 2013, Rocket Time didn’t make it to the races that year. He needed surgery to repair a fractured shin, and while he was under the anesthetic, veterinarians discovered that he had an arrhythmia, Stall said.

Medication failed to fix that problem, so in fall 2013, “we had to send him to Ohio State and shock his heart,” Stall said.

Rocket Time debuted as a 3-year-old in May, finishing third in a two-turn maiden race at Churchill Downs. He won there at a mile in June in his second start before fading out of the money in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race at Saratoga a month later.

That’s when Stall decided Rocket Time needed to be gelded. Since then, he has found his best form. Rocket Time has rolled to three consecutive victories, winning an allowance race at Keeneland, an optional-claiming race at Churchill, and the Tenacious. Stall has yet to choose a next race for him.

On Dec. 18, the 2-year-old My Pal Charlie filly Harbour Island, a Kentucky-bred half-sister of 2014 Louisiana Derby winner Vicar’s in Trouble, won a maiden sprint for Stall in her second start.

“She’s a beautiful filly, very forward, does everything right,” Stall said.