This Turkey will Rock Your World (Don't Mind The Grass Stains)

[RolloTomasi]

Rock Your World, this year's Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner by leading sire Candy Ride, has been retired from racing and will stand the 2022 breeding season at Spendthrift Farm for a fee of $10,000 S&N.

Oh come on! There’s plenty of time to be an also-ran in the Hollywood Derby and Malibu. Then they can choose between being an also-ran in either the Pegasus World Cup or the Pegasus Turf Cup.

Wouldn’t recommend a start in Saudi, though…

“Rock Your World is a fast Santa Anita Derby winner with a wonderful blend of looks, pedigree and sire power,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager.

Don’t forget that brilliant race record. I love me those Triple Crown meltdown types. Extra points for bombing in the Twilight Derby when returning to his preferred surface.

“He's a $650,000 yearling and you can see why.

Why does this guy keep talking in the present tense? He was a Santa Anita Derby winner. He was a $650k yearling.

He is a thoroughly fried one-hit wonder.

He's one imposing individual and as good-looking of a Candy Ride as you'll find.

He certainly has been tough to find since the SA Derby. You needed binoculars, a search light, and a lot of time on your hands to locate him in his last few races.

Rock Your World possesses a true classic dirt pedigree, with Empire Maker and Giant's Causeway as his first two broodmare sires.

True classic dirt pedigree? Empire Maker was out of a top class turf mare. He sired no winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, or Travers. To be fair, a couple of his Derby duds did sire Derby winners. Pioneerof the Nile got American Pharoah (and not much else). The hapless Bodemeister (another TC meltdown) got the even more hapless Always Dreaming before ascending to the heights of the Turkish Thoroughbred breeding industry…

Meanwhile, Giant’s Causeway raced in Europe, lost his only dirt start, and sired turf horses for the most part. Unless you think ho-hum stallions Frost Giant and First Samurai did him any favors during his stud career. He sired exactly no winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont, or Travers. To be fair, he did get the much ballyhooed TC meltdown horse Eskendereya, an indifferent stallion after failing to make it to Churchill Downs.

We believe there's a lot to like, especially through our Share The Upside program. We will begin showing Rock Your World today and I invite all breeders to come out and see him.”

Will you provide directions, or can we presume he will be located in the back half of the field?

Rock Your World will participate in Spendthrift's renowned “Share The Upside” breeding program in 2022 for a fee of $12,500 for a two-year commitment. Breeders must breed a mare in 2022 and 2023 and have two foals total. After the breeder has the second live foal in 2024 and pays the stud fee, he or she will earn a lifetime breeding right.

If his offspring take after him, this program might be something akin to alimony…

Trained by John Sadler, Rock Your World won on debut on New Year's Day going six furlongs before stretching out around two turns to win the one-mile Pasadena Stakes in his second start – both coming over the Santa Anita turf course. In his third start in April, the imposing 3-year-old asserted himself as a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby with a powerhouse 4 1/4-length victory over eventual Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby in his first start on the dirt.

Some of this has already not aged well (“leading contender for the Kentucky Derby”) and some of the rest promises to not age well, either (“eventual Kentucky Derby winner”).

Rock Your World stopped the clock in 1:49.17 for 1 1/8 miles, earning a 100 Beyer – the only triple-digit Beyer earned before the Kentucky Derby among this year's field.

Does this reflect well on Rock Your World, who couldn’t finish a subsequent race without giving way in the stretch; or does it reflect poorly on this year’s 3yo crop?

Owned by Hronis Racing and Talla Racing, Rock Your World retires with earnings of $612,100. A $650,000 yearling purchase, he is out of the multiple stakes-winning Empire Maker mare Charm the Maker. His first three dams are all multiple stakes winners or graded stakes winners.

Hey…remember that “true dirt pedigree”?

The first dam won all her races on synthetics and placed in turf stakes. Her other winner besides Rock Your World has won 3 races…all on turf.

The second dam won 7 career races…all on turf. Besides the first dam, she has 2 winning sons: Liam the Charmer, a 5-time winner…all on turf. Odysseus, twice a winner…all on turf.

The third dam Olympic Charmer was a graded stakes winner on dirt but was also unbeaten in 2 turf starts (both stakes races) as 3yo; inexplicably, she never raced on turf again despite going on a losing streak in dirt races. Besides the second dam, she produced 4 other winners who all broke their maidens on turf. One of those did win a dirt race eventually…in a $5k claimer at Fresno. Another one of those winners (Charming Legacy) ended up a decent producer, getting 7 different winners. You guessed it: all were turf winners (including the top 3yo filly in Turkey this year). There were 24 wins from those 7 foals; there were 18 turf wins and 3 polytrack wins. Of the 3 remaining victories on dirt, one was in an off-the-turf maiden at Mountaineer, one was in a $12.5k claimer at Indiana Grand, and one was in a $14k claimer at Camarero in Puerto Rico…

So Spendthrift might also want to think about shuttling this top stallion prospect. I'm sure Puerto Rico is interested or dare I say--Happy Thanksgiving--Turkey…?