Rock N Roll Heaven is back at The Red Mile in Lexington on Saturday as a supplemental entry in the $604,000 Tattersalls Stakes for three-year-old pacing colts
. The lifetime winner of $2.14 million gets Post 3 with his usual driver, Daniel Dube, in a field of 11. One More Laugh also was supplemented to the race. The fee to supplement was $60,000.
Trainer Bruce Saunders said Rock N Roll Heaven came out of his October 16 Bluegrass Stakes win at The Red Mile in fine form despite having to hold off a hard-charging Razzle Dazzle to win by a neck in 1:48.2. Rock N Roll Heaven is the No. 1-ranked horse in harness racing’s top 10 poll.
“I saw him Sunday [October 17] and he was quite alert,” said Saunders, reached Monday afternoon at the airport on his way to Lexington. “My caretaker, Lester Benson, said he’d been great yesterday and today, so I’m anxious to see him in the morning. We’ll train him up a little bit [Wednesday] and get ready for the Tattersalls on Saturday.
“I think he’s demonstrated over the last month and a half that, all things being equal, he has a step or two on most of the three-year-olds. That’s no guarantee that the best horse wins every race, but as long as he’s healthy and sound, I’m happy to race him wherever I have the opportunity.”
Saunders says the horse has a limited number of starts ahead of him and all his connections are happy for the chance to race the “one-in-a-lifetime” horse.
“Mr. Bellino [owner Frank Bellino], recognizing that we’re getting down toward the twilight of his racing career would like to race him as much as possible,” Saunders said.
Asked if he’d like to see Rock N Roll Heaven come out of Lexington with a new career mark, Saunders was circumspect.
“[To beat] 1:47.3, a lot of things will have to happen right,” he said. “We got very lucky last week, the weather was conducive. It was in the low 70s, but the track was much deeper, they had it set up for the trotters which they should have been, with the Filly Futurity and the Futurity that day. They had six or seven trot races, so the track was a little deeper than usual. By the time we raced, it was a little breezier, we were the last race on the program. I’m real happy with the 1:47.3 taken at the Meadowlands.
“To set a record, we’d certainly need to have some help. Getting down to the half in :53 like we did last week would be great, except we were doing a lot of the work getting to that half in :53. By the time he cleared, used twice getting to the front.... Hopefully [this week] we can draw inside. Maybe they’ll do a little speed racing up front, but if he goes to bed with a 1:47.3 record taken at the Meadowlands, that’s indicative of the kind of speed he has.”
Asked to characterize the trait that he hopes Rock N Roll Heaven will impart to his progeny, Saunders was philosophical.
“The one attribute that all great horses have is the size of their heart, how badly they want to compete,” he said. “We can’t measure that when we look at a pedigree or review their conformation, we can’t determine just what their lung power is, how much air they can take in, how far they can go, you can’t determine the amount of determination they have.
“You can look at the family, say I’ve raced this one out of the family, this was a tough one, this one tried hard or I don’t like this family, they weren’t hard-trying horses. You get some experience with the family, but you don’t really know just what you’re going to get in the breeding. I would hope that the characteristic he would pass on, besides sheer speed, is his toughness and competitiveness. I think that is what separated him from a lot of the horses he’s raced against.”
That attitude was on display last Saturday when Rock N Roll Heaven had to tussle with Razzle Dazzle in the last steps of the Bluegrass.
“I thought he was going to be very vulnerable last Saturday and he was, with the post position he had and I thought the track would be a little deeper, which would make it easier for the bigger, longer-gaited horses than him,” Saunders said. “With all the speed inside and I knew he was going to get used a little bit early and [trainer] Jerry Silverman’s horse, Razzle Dazzle, pushed him to the end.
“I thought he was going to go right by, but I asked Daniel and he said no, when he [Rock N Roll Heaven] sensed him there, he got a peek out of the corner of his eye. I race him in a Kant See Bak [bridle], which is what I’ve raced him in probably every day of his life. His hopples are a little longer [now], but the same bridle. When he sensed that horse coming to him, Danny said he picked the bit back up again and kicked off. Other than that I think he would’ve gotten beat.
“I think the public and the racing fans have seen it two or three times, certainly in the Meadowlands Pace final, how tough he is. He’s had a couple races where they really wanted to battle with him. He’s happy to hook somebody and fight tooth and nail, that’s his toughness. The boys give me a hard time because I’ve worn out the word ‘tenacious,’ but tenacity is what it is. He’s a fighter and everyone knows how fast he is. They saw him click off three quarters at Pocono in 1:19.4. Being hard used on a chilly night, they saw the speed marks he’s gone, the last five races in a row in 1:49.2 or better, everybody knows he’s fast.”
Saunders will train Rock N Roll Heaven’s little sister, a yearling filly recently purchased in Kentucky.
“I bought a Bettors Delight half sister opening night at Tattersalls for Mr. Bellino. I paid a lot of money, the size of a small house, $250,000, for her, but she’ll have some residual value as a broodmare,” Saunders said. “I am sure we were bidding against a lot of breeders because of the fact that Artistic Vision [dam of Rock N Roll Heaven] and the whole family has been so successful.”
The card for Saturday’s races at The Red Mile is loaded with talent and recognizable names.
Two-time division champion Buck I St Pat, coming off her win in the Breeders Crown Mare Trot, headlines the Allerage Stakes for mare trotters. The Allerage for the older male trotters includes the division’s last two champs, Lucky Jim and Enough Talk. The latter is coming off his win in the Breeders Crown Open Trot.
Former Dan Patch Award-winners Tug River Princess and Southwind Tempo are among the seven horses in the Allerage Stakes for pacing mares. The Allerage for older male pacers includes Won The West, last year’s division champion who is coming off his second Breeders Crown Open Pace victory.
Breeders Crown winner Break The Bank K is in the first of two Bluegrass Stakes for three-year-old male trotters. The other division finds Kentucky Futurity winner Wishing Stone and Canadian Trotting Classic winner Lucky Chucky.
The afternoon concludes with the Tattersalls for three-year-old male pacers, featuring Rock N Roll Heaven.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.