Harlem Rocker - Adena Racing Venture II
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Adena Springs | Awesome Again | Congaree | El Prado | Ghostzapper | Macho Uno
Harlem Rocker is trained by Todd Pletcher and he is currently based at Gulfstream Park. He won his maiden race on Feb. 14th and his N1X allowance race on March 30th. Harlem
Rocker wins Prince Of Wales S. Queen’s Plate Stakes winner Not Bourbon, the 1.10-to-1 favorite in the field of seven Canadian-bred three-year-olds, finished sixth. The Queen’s Plate is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Pewter maintained a head lead in the Prince of Wales through a half-mile in :47.40 and six furlongs in 1:11.98. Harlem Rocker tracked the pace in fifth through the backstretch and gained command three-wide on the turn under jockey Eibar Coa. Opening a one-length lead in early stretch, Harlem Rocker was quickly engaged by maiden winner East End Tap, who rallied from last under jockey Elvis Trujillo. Harlem Rocker quickly regained command and drew clear in the closing strides to win the 1 3/16-mile race in 1:56.46 on a fast track. East End Tap finished 3 3/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher and 37.50-to-1 longshot Pronger. A Stronach Stables homebred trained by Todd Pletcher, Harlem Rocker was unbeaten in his first three career starts, including a 2 ½-length win in the Withers in his stakes debut on April 26 at Aqueduct. The Macho Uno colt finished fourth, 5 3/4 lengths behind Not Bourbon, in the Plate Trial Stakes in his previous start on June 1 at Woodbine. Harlem Rocker earned his fourth win in five starts and increased his earnings to $445,799. The gray or roan colt is the first starter out of the stakes-placed winning Lit de Justice mare Freedom Come, a half sister to Grade 3 winner Boomzeeboom. Harlem Rocker wins Withers S. Stronach Stables’ homebred Harlem Rocker caught pacesetter
J Be K in mid-stretch stretch and drew clear for a convincing 2 ½-length
victory in the $150,000 Withers Stakes (gr. III) April 26
on the Aqueduct dirt, staying undefeated in three starts. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Harlem Rocker did not make his racing debut until Feb. 14 at Gulfstream Park, when he broke his maiden by 1 3/4 lengths. A little more than six weeks later the gray/roan colt won in allowance company at Gulfstream, a race in which he defeated eventual Coolmore Lexington Stakes (gr. II) runner-up Samba Rooster by three-quarters of a length at one mile. In the Withers, Zayat Stables’ J Be K, who entered off a five-length romp in the April 5 Bay Shore (gr. III), broke to the early lead from post two under Garrett Gomez. The son of Silver Deputy went a quarter in :23.91 and a half-mile in a brisk :46.41. Double Or Nothing stalked the pace about a length back, with Harlem Rocker and Pletcher’s other contender, Face the Cat, trailing the four-horse field. J Be K had a clear two-length advantage coming out of the turn, but Coa had already asked Harlem Rocker for more and was coming with a four-wide run into the stretch. Harlem Rocker collared the leader in mid-stretch and drew away for an easy win. J Be K was 7 ¾ lengths in front of Double Or Nothing for second. “He’s still green, but he’s one of those improving horses," Coa said. "Every time he runs, he just gets better. He’s not 100 percent yet, which is kind of scary because he can be better than this. "I was a little concerned that he was too close to the pace today, but he took me there himself. At the five-sixteenths pole, I thought that if J Be K was good enough, he would beat us, but I knew my horse was going to finish. At the end, he was playing around because he’s still a little green, but he showed he can compete with these horses.” Going off as the 2-1 second choice, Harlem Rocker paid $6.60 and $2.70. There was no show wagering. J Be K paid $2.30 to place. The exacta (1-2) returned $10.60. Harlem Rocker was bred in Ontario and is out of the Lit de Justice mare Freedom Come. He earned $90,000 for the win. “He’s still playing around out there," said Pletcher's assistant, Seth Benzel. "When he put his mind on business, he dealt with those horses fairly easily. This horse has a lot of talent and ability. It seems like he still has some room to improve.”
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