Rocky Sky holds off Capital Structure for Waya victory
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Rocky Sky took over from pacesetting Tass in upper stretch and easily held her stablemate Capital Structure at bay to win Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Waya Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths at soggy Aqueduct.
It was seven lengths back to Coastana in third. Tass was fourth followed by Gladys and Lovely Lucky. Flirting Bridge and Flying Fortress scratched.
Rocky Sky was entered in the Waya only after a Sept. 22 allowance race was rained off the turf. It rained for a good portion of this weekend in New York, but the New York Racing Association kept all four scheduled turf stakes on the grass.
Under Manny Franco, Rocky Sky was always within three lengths of the pace in the marathon race. When Franco asked his filly on the far turn, Rocky Sky advanced steadily three-wide around Tass and Coastana. Tass had the lead turning for home, but Rocky Sky soon maneuvered past her and had more than enough to fend off favored Capital Structure. The first two finishers are trained by Chad Brown.
Franco said being closer to the early leaders was the difference.
“When I got to the paddock, Dan,” Franco said, referring to assistant trainer Dan Stupp, “said don’t be afraid to be forward. That’s what I did and that was the key to the victory.”
Rocky Sky, a 4-year-old daughter of Rock of Gibraltar owned by Peter Brant, covered the 1 3/8 miles over yielding ground in 2:21.42 and returned $9.40 as the third choice. She earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.
Capital Structure was last early on and, though she came with a rally under Irad Ortiz Jr., she was simply second-best.
“It was a slow pace, but I was in contact with them, I was never pretty far back, I was happy where I was,” Ortiz said. “By the backside they started to pick it up, but I was already behind the winner, so no excuse.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.