Rocketry does it again in Marathon Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - That's two starts on dirt, and two track records for Rocketry. The rocketing colt captured the Grade 2, $200,000 Marathon Stakes on Friday night at Churchill Downs, again etching his name into a historic track's record book.

Rocketry ($6.60), trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Centennial Farm, gained instant notoriety last time out when he won the 1 5/8-mile Temperence Hill Stakes on Sept. 30 at Belmont. His final time of 2:40.18 for the 1 5/8 miles eclipsed the mark of 2:40.80 set by the legendary Man o’ War nearly a century ago, in the 1920 Lawrence Realization Stakes.

In winning the Marathon, Rocketry stopped the clock in 2:57.62 for the 1 3/4 miles. The prior mark was 2:59.62 set by Eldaafer in 2010, when the Breeders' Cup Marathon was an official part of the event's program.

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Rocketry capped a big day for jockey Joel Rosario, who also won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile aboard Game Winner and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with Jaywalk. The duo broke from the outside post in the field of nine for the Marathon, and trailed through the first half-mile. Meanwhile, Dabster, shipping in off two stakes victories in California for Bob Baffert, led early, setting moderate fractions of 49.10 seconds for the half, 1:15.30 for six furlongs, and 1:41.72 for the mile.

Rocketry began passing horses with a moderate middle move the second time down the backstretch, and made a sweeping five-wide run around the final turn to move up into second at the quarter pole, bearing down on Dabster. Dabster fought on gamely, but Rocketry, still well out in the middle of the track, drove on under steady hand urging from Rosario to edge clear to a three-quarter-length victory.

Dabster easily held second, 4 1/4 lengths clear of Big Dollar Bill. It was another 7 3/4 lengths back to Toast of New York, who started in the Marathon after failing to draw in off the also-eligible list for Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Honorable Duty, who had tracked in second early before fading in the final stages, was pulled up in the stretch by jockey Jose Ortiz. He appeared to stand squarely bearing weight on all four legs, and walked into the ambulance under his own power to be vanned back to Brendan Walsh's barn for further evaluation.

"When he switched to the right lead in the stretch, I felt like he took a bad step," Ortiz said. "I just pulled him up. But he pulled up and he looked pretty good."