The $1 million Metro Pace is just around the corner and North America's top juveniles are starting to show what they're made of
. While in discussion with Trot Insider, trainer Bruce Saunders spoke very highly of his Rocknroll Hanover colt Rock N Roll Heaven, which to this point has shown to be both the versatile and speedy type.
From three pari-mutuel races, Rock N Roll Heaven has recorded one win and both a second and third-place finish. Heads turned during a July 23 New Jersey Sire Stakes final at the Meadowlands when the colt came from well back in the slop to win by a few open lengths in 1:54. But most recently it has been the devastating 1:51.1 victory in an August 13 'Big M' qualifier which has got more followers talking.
"His program lines really speak for themselves," Saunders told Trot Insider. "I gave him a couple of weeks off after his win in the New Jersey Sire Stakes (on July 16). We've been pointing him at the Metro, so we thought we'd give him a qualifier to keep him tight and stretch him out a bit. We were looking to go a mile in about [1:] 54, but he ended up going out there and pacing in 1:51, which looks sort of silly on paper. The conditions at the Meadowlands that morning were pristine and [driver Dan Dube] put him on the front and he just swelled up -- it's almost like the horse just wanted to go out there and show off. Some people may worry that we've tapped into his reserve a bit with a mile like that, but that couldn't be any further from the case. He came a back half in 53 (seconds) about as easy as a horse could do it -- Danny didn't ask him once."
Saunders told Trot Insider that as much as the colt has stepped up to the plate, so has the bay's owner, Frank Bellino of Bronxville, New York.
"[Rock N Roll Heaven] was bought privately after a qualifier at Scioto, contrary to what people seem to think. I have to give my owner a ton of credit on this colt. The colt looked good when he was bought. Mr. Bellino made a decision on the horse when there wasn't too much on paper to go on. The horse has gone on to do some really good things since then, and quite a bit of the credit has to go to Mr. Bellino."
Bound by the stakes decisions of the previous connections, the colt was not made eligible to the Niatross or Woodrow Wilson and is not paid up to the Breeders Crown, but in addition to the NJSS and the Metro, the colt is eligible to the Governor's Cup, Bluegrass and Matron -- more than enough dances to bank some purses and be put away for a three-year-old stakes campaign.
Saunders told Trot Insider that Rock N Roll Heaven shipped in to Mohawk Racetrack this past Tuesday and that he has taken to the accommodations and racetrack quite well. Some tend to be impressed by horses' teletimer-scorching miles, but instead of talking pure speed, Saunders stressed that the colt's performance in the NJSS final was just something else.
"His program line from the New Jersey Sire Stakes final really doesn't convey how much of a good performance the horse put in that day. He was out the entire mile over a bad track and the field only went to the half in something like 57 (seconds). He was behind horses on the outside that were going nowhere turning for home and had to go four-wide early in the stretch. At first I was hoping we'd get a piece of it (the purse); then I knew we had a good piece, and then before we knew it he was pacing away from them at the toteboard."
As for Rock N Roll Heaven's other two pari-mutuel races, Saunders didn't want to say so, but he clearly stated that they were 'excuse' races.
"After his initial qualifiers he had a couple of 'excuse' races. He got locked in with tons of pace in his debut when he finished third by a length in 1:54. After that, in another sire stakes race, he threw a shoe early and was driving crooked through the stretch, but still just lost by a half-length in 1:52. After that was the sire stakes final where he came from that impossible spot."
Fans can next see Rock N Roll Heaven in action at Mohawk this Sunday. The colt has drawn Post 5 in Race 10.
Click here to view the harness racing entries for Sunday night at Mohawk.