Photo: Adam Coglianese
Henry, Joseph and Jamie Terranova’s five-year-old Meese Rocks loved Saratoga’s off going on Monday, taking the $70,000 Union Avenue Stakes by 6 ¼ lengths from a competitive field of six other New York-bred fillies and mares three and up in a six-furlong event run over a sloppy (sealed) track. The bay mare’s performance earned her a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 94.
Last seen running second by only a head to My Dinah in the seven-furlong Fleet Indian Stakes in similar company at the Spa on July 30th, Meese Rocks has been busy this year adding to an already strong resume for trainer Edward Barker. After winning her first start of 2010 in early January – a six-furlong open company allowance race over the Aqueduct inner surface (for a third consecutive victory) – she notched her first career stakes score in February with a dominating performance in the Personal Girl Stakes for older fillies and mares (also run at six furlongs at Aqueduct), and added a win in June in her first start out-of-state in a third level allowance/optional claiming event at Monmouth.
After the gates opened on Monday, favorite La Concerto capitalized on her inside post to grab the lead, while Meese Rocks (third choice in the wagering) set up shop off her flank under Jorge Chavez, who has been aboard for all but her first two starts. Gold for the Queen progressed with the vanguard up the backstretch to advance between the two leaders. As La Concerto began to recede on the rail going into the turn, City Broad poised to strike on the outside, but Meese Rocks, who shifted off the rail at the top of the lane, took control and relished the muddy going. In the final sixteenth she put the icing on the cake by opening up 6 ¼ emphatic lengths on Gold for the Queen who hung in for second. City Broad got up for third. The early fractions were snappy (22.65 and 45.55) and the final time for the six furlongs was 1:11.46. Karakorum Fugitive, La Concerto, Favorite Flavor and Smokin Pistol completed the order of finish. This was Meese Rocks’ second win in three tries over wet tracks and sixth victory in eight starts at six furlongs.
Winning trainer Eddie Barker was impressed. “I didn’t surprise me that she won; it was how she won.” Barker said. “It was very impressive against that field. I thought she was going to run a really, really good race, but I didn’t think she would be as dominant as she was. This field was probably the toughest she has ever faced. She has run well over a sloppy track before and [Jorge Chavez] knows the horse really well.” Chavez also felt his familiarity with his mount and with the field contributed to the score: “I knew that [La Concerto] and [Gold for the Queen] were going to go out like that, so I just waited for the stretch and then let her go. She loves the mud. I’ve ridden her before in the mud and she won, so I know she likes that kind of track.”
Meese Rocks’ win in the Union Avenue, her fifth in seven starts, second stakes score and seventh victory lifetime, increased her purse earnings to $267,410. Bred by Robert W. Misa Jr. and foaled at Dutchess Views Farm, Meese Rocks is by former New York Stallion Rock and Roll (who stood at Ed Gregory’s Carapan Farm in Freehold from 2002 to 2008. She is one of two winners from four foals to start out of the winning Grindstone mare Meeses Pieces, who also produced New York-bred earner of $94,445 Meeses Two Pieces (by Gold Fever). At two, Meese Rocks was broken and trained at Heather Larson’s Hudson Meadows Racing in Hudson.
