Ten-time stakes winner Frank's Rockette retired

Frank’s Rockette, who for years ranked as an elite female sprinter, has been retired from racing, her breeder and owner, Frank Fletcher, said Monday.

Fletcher said the decision was made Monday after talking with trainer Bill Mott and racing manager Kathy Moore.

Frank’s Rockette won 12 of 30 starts for earnings of $1.5 million. The 6-year-old won 10 stakes, including five graded victories that included the Grade 2 Prioress and Grade 2 Gallant Bloom. She made two appearances in the Breeders’ Cup.

Earlier this year, Frank’s Rockette won the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park and the Roxelana at Churchill Downs. She ran Sunday at Aqueduct, finishing second in the $135,000 Pumpkin Pie.

“That was her last race,” Fletcher said. “She’s healthy and hopefully she’ll have a long life and produce a champion.”

Fletcher intends to keep Frank’s Rockette for breeding purposes. He said she would be stabled in Kentucky. He has not yet determined a stallion for her first mating, he said Monday.

“No decision,” Fletcher said. “We’re thinking about Tapit, but we haven’t made a final decision.”

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Frank’s Rockette is a daughter of Into Mischief and the mare Rocket Twentyone, a Grade 3 winner for Fletcher trained by the late Tom Howard, the husband of Moore.

“Rocket Twentyone was the first horse we ever had in the Breeders’ Cup,” Fletcher said. “She was a very special horse for us and we’re still raising her babies. This year we’ve got a good horse, Top Gun Rocket, a full brother to Frank’s Rockette. We’ve got big hopes for him. We’ve got a yearling on the ground, another full brother to Frank’s Rockette.”

Fletcher said his homebred Frank’s Rockette brought him immense joy during her racing career.

“She’s been the biggest thrill that I’ve ever had, consistently, for all those years,” he said. “Her very first race, I have a picture on my wall. I think she won by eight and a half lengths. I’ll never forget that.

“I was down on the trackside and couldn’t hear the announcer and didn’t know who was in front – there was one horse coming around the turn that just left the others. Everyone with me started saying that’s her. As she went by, it was something unreal – out of this world. It was one of my biggest thrills.”

Fletcher said he fondly remembers the graded races she ran in as a 2-year-old at Saratoga. He also has a pair of Daily Racing Form covers framed and hanging on his wall – one referring to Frank’s Rockette with a headline that read High Octane and the other, High Kicking.

Fletcher said Frank’s Rockette prompted him to really jump into racing with “both feet” and she has made the game one of the highlights of his life.

“It’s been a long four years of racing, but I wish I could have a few more like that,” he said. “We’ll keep her in Kentucky and see what we can get started.”

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