Grace Rocks made a perfectly timed move to earn a surprise win in the fourth leg of Indiana Sires Stakes action for three-year-old pacing fillies Saturday, Aug. 22 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. The filly won the second division of the night with the first division going to Somebodyslilly.
Grace Rocks, inside, fended off Maggie Rhee on the outside to score her first win of 2020 in Indiana Sires Stakes action Sat. Aug. 22 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Photo by Dean Gillette
Starting from the center of the track, Grace Rocks and Joey Putnam floated over to the inside as Seventimesacharm and John Delong grabbed the first lead through the quarter in :27.1. Foxy Rigger and Trace Tetrick then moved to the front to lead the way through the half in :55.0 and 1:22.4. By the three-quarter mile marker, Putnam had Grace Rocks on the outside and advancing forward.
It took the entire length of the stretch for Grace Rocks to get to the front of the field, pacing home in :27.1 to earn the win by a neck in 1:50.3. Maggie Rhee and Ricky Macomber Jr. rallied up late for second over Seventimesacharm for third.
Trained by Britney Dillon, Grace Rocks paid $23.20, $7.60, $7.40 across the board. The Rockin Image daughter is owned by Howard Taylor of Philadelphia, Pa. Grace Rocks is a product of Victory Hill Farm where Rockin Image stands.
It was the first win of the season in six starts for Grace Rocks. Competitive last year at two, the filly won six of nine starts and didn’t finish worse than third in any of her outings. The mile this season was a new career mark for Grace Rocks, who was a $20,000 yearling purchase from the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale.
In the first division, Somebodyslilly and Michael Oosting moved in similar fashion during the second half of the race to score the win in 1:50.2. Owned, bred and trained by Eli Schwartz, the Time to Roll filly was one and one-half lengths ahead of Mystical Carrie and Trace Tetrick at the finish. Genie Rockwell and James Yoder finished third.
Somebodyslilly has now won four in a row for Schwartz, including two legs of Indiana Sires Stakes action. Her career best time still stands at 1:50.0, a mark she took in late July at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.