“He’s gotten a lot better as he’s gotten some racing into him. He’s a pretty good-sized colt and he’s just kind of coming into himself now.”
Katies Rocker rolled in his Governor’s Cup elimination last weekend and he will try to provide an encore in the $413,000 final for two-year-old male pacers this Saturday (November 21) at the Meadowlands Racetrack.
The Governor’s Cup is part of a busy weekend at the Meadowlands. Other top races Saturday include the $489,400 Valley Victory Stakes for two-year-old male trotters, the $173,500 Tarport Hap for three-year-old female pacers and the $144,000 Continentalvictory for three-year-old female trotters, plus the $400,000 TVG Free For All Series championships for male pacers and trotters.
Katies Rocker will start the Governor’s Cup final from Post 5 with David Miller driving for trainer Jim Campbell. Last week, Katies Rocker won his elimination by a nose over JK Will Power in 1:52.1. For the year, Katies Rocker has won six of 12 races and earned $154,418 for breeder/owner Fashion Farms.
The gelding enters the final with three wins in his four most recent starts.
“He’s been very consistent and we’ve been very happy with the way he’s come along,” Campbell said. “He’s gotten a lot better as he’s gotten some racing into him. He’s a pretty good-sized colt and he’s just kind of coming into himself now. He’s very well-bred, that’s for sure. He’s a real nice-mannered colt, too. He’s just a perfect horse to be around in the barn and a nice horse to train.”
Katies Rocker is a son of Rocknroll Hanover out of the stakes-winning mare Just Wait Kate. His dam is a full sister to Dan Patch Award-winner Kikikatie and the family also includes stakes-winner Katie Said, who races in Friday’s $200,000 TVG Free For All Series championship for older female pacers at the Meadowlands, and O’Brien Award-winner Camluck.
Among Katies Rocker’s wins are the Reynolds Stakes at Tioga Downs and a division of the Bluegrass Stakes over a ‘sloppy’ track at the Red Mile. He finished a parked-out fifth from Post 7 in the Matron Stakes and was fifth in the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship in one of the few starts that he failed to be moving forward in the stretch.
“It was a steering issue (in the New Jersey Sire Stakes final) more than anything,” Campbell said. “We checked him out afterward and everything checked out OK. It was just kind of a freak thing.”
Campbell also sends out Show The Fashion in the Governor’s Cup. Show The Fashion, also owned by Fashion Farms, has won two of nine races and earned $31,933 this season. He finished fifth in his Governor’s Cup elimination, which was won by Big Top Hanover in 1:51.
“His race last week was the first time he’s gone up against that class of horse and even gone that type of speed,” Campbell said. “I wasn’t disappointed in him. I thought he raced well.
“He was just a little bit slower in coming along (because of sickness) but he’s a good-gaited colt and he’s got some speed. He’s obviously going to need a good trip to get a good piece of it, but we’re hopefully that might happen because he does have the speed. We wanted to get some experience into him and see how he handles it.”
Big Top Hanover, one of four Governor’s Cup finalists from the stable of trainer Ron Burke, entered last week’s Governor’s Cup eliminations off a win in the Matron Stakes and second-place finish in the Breeders Crown.
The Governor’s Cup final also includes Breeders Crown champion Boston Red Rocks, who was second by a nose to Big Top Hanover last weekend, as well as stakes-winners Ideal Rocky, Spider Man Hanover, Autotune Hanover, and Check Six.
“There are some top colts in there,” Campbell said. “It’s probably going to come down to whoever gets the better trip. It’s going to be a very tough competitive race.”
Campbell’s work at the Meadowlands this weekend isn’t limited to Saturday. He will send Gallie Bythe Beach into the TVG Free For All Series championship for the pacing mares. The four-year-old has won three of her four most recent races and finished no worse than third in her past six starts.
“She’s come around pretty good the last five or six weeks,” Campbell said. “She’s been racing really good. I was real happy with the way she raced last week. She’s coming into the race in pretty good form. Again, a lot of it is probably going to depend on trip, but hopefully she’ll get a nice trip and get a chance to get a good piece of it.”
First-race post time for the Meadowlands’ Saturday night card is 7 p.m.
To view the entries for this weekend's cards at the Big M, click one of the following links:
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This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.