Chelsea Durand Photo

Repo Rocks takes $125K Stymie in a landslide

by Keith McCalmont

Double B Racing Stables’ Repo Rocks launched a powerful stretch run to capture his fourth straight stakes race in as many starts in Saturday’s $125,000 Stymie, a one-turn mile for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 5-year-old Tapiture gelding is undefeated since joining the barn of trainer Jamie Ness. He captured the Let’s Give Thanks in November and Blitzen on January 4 at his Parx Racing base ahead of an 8 1/2-length romp in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Toboggan on January 28 at the Big A that garnered a 111 Beyer Speed Figure.

Repo Rocks, piloted throughout the streak by Andrew Wolfsont, overcame a troubled trip to successfully stretch out in his first start beyond seven furlongs since an off-the-board effort in the Bensalem Match Series at 1 1/16-miles on the Parx turf in June.

"It was not what I wanted,” said Ness, who would have preferred a frontrunning voyage. “I told Andrew he's on the best horse, he's very fit and put him on the lead - there's no speed. For some reason, he got him in trouble and luckily we overcame it today. When you run against this quality of horses, if you find trouble, you get beat. We got a great win. The mile was great and I knew he could stretch out, so I couldn’t be more thrilled."

Eric Cancel put Black Belt on the lead in the Stymie, marking off splits of 23.93 seconds and 47.51 over the fast main track with Miles D, who broke outward under Manny Franco, tracking from second position.

Repo Rocks, who initially rushed up to challenge the leader on the backstretch before taking back, raced in third position along the fence and was trapped behind the front pair of Black Belt and Miles D through the turn while pinned in from his outside by the Dexter Haddock-piloted Far Mo Power.

Miles D took command late in the turn but Wolfsont angled Repo Rocks off the rail and, once clear, surged with an impressive outside run to score by 3 1/4-lengths in a final time of 1:36.75. Miles D completed the exacta by a half-length over Far Mo Power with Bourbonic, Black Belt and Tough Tickets rounding out the order of finish.

Wolfsont, who has won with 4-of-7 stakes starts at the Big A, said he expected more pace to develop.

“I could have gone on in the very beginning if I asked him to, but it being the test of a little bit longer of a distance, I didn’t know if that was the right move,” Wolfsont said. “In retrospect, I probably would have been fine doing that just making him go early. He probably would have been fine with the pressure, but I felt like they were going just quick enough for me to sit off of it. I kind of wish they were going a little bit quicker – he would have been more comfortable – but obviously he did relax enough, he went on with it, and had plenty of kick left. As soon as I straightened for home, he did the rest easy.”

The Chad Brown-trained Miles D, who finished third in the 2021 Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course, entered from a distant seventh-place finish in the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper on January 28 at Gulfstream Park while racing from a nearly one-year layoff.

Franco, who captured the co-featured Gander earlier on the card for Brown with Neural Network, said his horse performed admirably on the return to the scene of his impressive stakes score in the 2021 Discovery.

"He felt good and he was second best today. The winner was impressive," Franco said. "He was there for me, it’s just the winner was best today.”

Repo Rocks showed signs of improvement in his 2022 campaign, posting a record of 11-2-2-2 that included a second in the Grade 3 Toboggan and a third in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap, both at the Big A, as well as completing the trifecta in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud at Belmont Park while in the care of trainer Juan Vazquez. He made seven starts for conditioner Gregory DiPrima from April through October before joining Ness.

"I'm impressed by the way he trains. He practices the way he plays,” Ness said. “I expected this effort today. I train on him pretty hard and he loves it and wants more.”

Ness said that although he would prefer to keep Repo Rocks at a one-turn mile, he is now likely to target the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap presented by NYRA Bets on April 8 at the Big A.

“The owner is from there and I want to keep him local. Why change something that's working?” Ness said. “He's a big horse and he needs a little time to level off. I like the mile distance, but if we have to cut back to seven-eighths it is what it is."

Bred in Virginia by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, III, Repo Rocks banked $68,750 in victory, while improving his record to 33-8-6-6. He returned $4.30 for a $2 win bet.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.  

America's Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule. 

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.