Stonestreet Stables's 'TDN Rising Star' Rock Fall (Speightstown) leads seven solid sprinters in Saturday's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at the Spa. Off the board on debut last April, the Todd Pletcher trainee has been perfect ever since, reeling off five consecutive open-length victories. He crushed a strong group of Keeneland optional claimers by nine lengths two back Apr. 18, good for a 109 Beyer Speed Figure, and went one point better when besting GISW Dads Caps (Discreet Cat), Favorite Tale (Tale of the Cat) and Clearly Now (Horse Greeley) in Belmont's GII True North S. June 5. “He's coming off a powerful win in the True North and has been training well,” Pletcher said. “We're looking forward to seeing him step up to a Grade I and seeing if he can handle it. I don't know that he can run much better than he did in the True North. It was a pretty impressive performance and all the figures suggest that it was really a top-caliber race. We're hoping for more of the same.”
Salutos Amigos (Salute the Sarge) reeled off four Aqueduct wins–including three at the Grade III level–over the late fall and winter before checking in eighth behind fellow U.S. invader Secret Circle (Eddington) in Meydan's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen Mar. 28. The dreaded “Dubai bounce” did not apply to this David Jacobson pupil, who picked up right where he left off with a powerful 3 1/4-length tally in Monmouth's sloppy Mr. Prospector S. June 28.
The Big Beast (Yes It's True), another 'Rising Star,' returns to what appears so far to be his favorite track. The hulking bay blitzed an allowance field here last July before taking the GI King's Bishop S. in August. He took an Oaklawn allowance on seasonal debut Mar. 1, but settled for fourth behind Dads Caps as the favorite in Aqueduct's Apr. 4 GI Carter H. “We've seen him mature,” trainer Tony Dutrow said of the 4-year-old, who missed the second half of last season with an ankle chip that required surgery. “He's still having fun, he still enjoys himself, he still has his ways, but he's a more mature horse as you would expect from three to four. There's lots of good stuff about him going into this race. He's doing fantastic in every way, and he loves Saratoga. He's going to face horses that he's never faced before.”
The aforementioned Favorite Tale–the field's third 'Rising Star'–shipped down to Gulfstream after the True North to steal the GII Smile Sprint S. He'll likely employ similar tactics this time.
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