Arella Rockstar, claimed for $50,000 out of her debut win at Saratoga Aug. 31, gave co-owner e Five Racing Thoroughbreds its second juvenile graded stakes winner of the Belmont meet with a determined victory over favored Cherry Lodge in Sunday's GIII Matron S. The bay filly pressed pacesetting Amapola (Broken Vow) through an opening quarter in :22.04 with Cherry Lodge just to her outside. The three fillies turned for home together after a half in :45.61. Arella Rockstar began inching clear in upper stretch, but Cherry Lodge threw down her challenge and briefly got a nose in front. Arella Rockstar would not be denied, battling back grimly along the rail to win going away.
“That filly ran so big,” admitted an impressed jockey Luis Saez. “When I got on, I was thinking, 'Man, she's alright.' When she broke from the gate, she was running. She never gave up. When we came to the stretch, I thought the Pletcher horse [Cherry Lodge] was going to pass me, but I had a lot of horse and when she switched her lead, she gave me another gear and she got it.”
Winning trainer Rudy Rodriguez was equally impressed.
“I think she has a lot of guts,” Rodriguez said. “She's a fighter. It looked like Cherry Lodge had her beat, but she had another gear. She looked good. We're just going to enjoy the win and take it from there.”
Racing for J Stables and trainer Ralph Nicks, Arella Rockstar captured her six-furlong debut at Saratoga by 2 3/4 lengths. The burgeoning e Five Racing was also represented by Oct. 2 GIII Miss Grillo S. winner New Money Honey (Medaglia d'Oro).
Pedigree Notes:
Arella Rockstar is the first foal out of the unraced Story Untold (Old Fashioned). The 5-year-old mare produced a colt by Flat Out in 2015 and a colt by The Factor in 2016. She was bred back to Union Rags. Her Flat Out yearling sold for $50,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale. The mare is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Feline Story (Tale of the Cat).
Arella Rockstar is the first graded stakes winner for freshman sire Astrology (A.P. Indy), who won the 2010 GIII Iroquois S. and was third in the following year's GI Preakness S. The stallion has also been represented by stakes winner Clairvoyant Lady and stakes placed Envoyer.
Sunday, Belmont Park
MATRON S.-GIII, $196,000, BEL, 10-16, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.68, ft.
1–#@ARELLA ROCKSTAR, 117, f, 2, by Astrology
1st Dam: Story Untold, by Old Fashioned
2nd Dam: Shappy, by Really Secret
3rd Dam: Salt In My Stew, by Dr. Blum
($13,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-e Five Racing Thoroughbreds &
Magic Cap Stables; B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Rudy R. Rodriguez;
J-Luis Saez. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $150,000.
*Second SW for freshman sire (by A.P. Indy). Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A.[bullet ad=”machmer-hall-bredfoaledraised”][bullet ad=”selectsales-shell”][bullet ad=”sbm-graduate”][bullet ad=”chad-summers-purchase-manage”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Cherry Lodge, 117, f, 2, Bernardini–Wilshewed, by Carson
City. 'TDN Rising Star' ($450,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Gainesway
Stable (Antony Beck); B-Mrs. William L. Currin (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $40,000.[bullet ad=”valkyre-stud-foaled-raised-sold”][bullet ad=”gainesway-purchased”][bullet ad=”hip2955″]3–Spirituality, 117, f, 2, Gemologist–Honky Tonk Rose, by
Forest Wildcat. ($57,000 Wlg '14 KEENOV; $77,000 Ylg '15
FTKOCT; $150,000 2yo '16 OBSMAR). O-WinStar Farm LLC;
B-Lee McMillin, Randy Faulkner & Joe Travelsted (KY); T-Todd
A. Pletcher. $20,000.[bullet ad=”berkelhammer-abracadabra-graduate”]Margins: 3/4, 2 3/4, 6 3/4. Odds: 12.60, 0.65, 7.50.
Also Ran: Amapola, Fly. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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