‘Rock’ Solid Choice in Vosburgh

Rock Fall (Speightstown) will look to continue to roll in Saturday’s GI Vosburgh Invitational S., a ‘Win and You’re In’ event for the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

The ‘TDN Rising Star’ has rattled off six straight victories since an unplaced debut last April, including a powerful performance while making his stakes debut in the GII True North S. in Elmont June 5, good for a gaudy 110 Beyer Speed Figure. The Stonestreet Stables colorbearer enters off a hard-fought victory in Saratoga’s GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. Aug. 1. He has posted five works since, most recently covering four furlongs in :49 1/5 over the Belmont training track Sept. 19.

“I think what makes him very good and sets him apart from other sprinters is that he can track a strong pace and still come on with a turn of foot,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Some sprinters will come out of the gate and run the others off their feet; others will fall back and make one late run. With him, if the pace is slow, he can be on top of the pace, if it’s fast, he can drop back.”

Pletcher concluded, “Since he’s come back this year, we haven’t missed anything we’ve wanted to run in. With the Breeders’ Cup in mind, we didn’t want to overuse him.”

Palace (City Zip), a two-time Grade I winner at Saratoga last summer, looks to get back on track. The bay has faced the starter only twice as a 6-year-old, finishing fifth in the GI Carter H. at the Big A Apr. 4 and third in a sloppy renewal of the John Morrissey S. versus New York-breds at the Spa July 30.

“We’ve had a few hiccups with him this year,” trainer Linda Rice said. “He grabbed a quarter coming out of the gate in the John Morrissey, and we spent the rest of the meet healing that up. He’s had a few breezes since, and his last one [in a bullet :59 4/5 over the Belmont training track Sept. 20] was quite good, enough so we thought we would take a stab at this and hope for some good races this fall.”

Stallwalkin’ Dude (City Place), a narrow second behind Wildcat Red (D’wildcat) in Monmouth’s Teddy Drone S. Aug. 2, posted a game decision in Saratoga’s Tale of the Cat S. 21 days later. The latter enters off a fourth-place finish in the GI Forego S. Aug. 29.

(For a recent feature on Rock Fall, click here).