Frank’s Rockette kicks off 2021 with American Beauty S. win

In her first start since the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), Frank’s Rockette began the new year with a victory in the $150,000 American Beauty S. at Oaklawn Park.

The 4-year-old Into Mischief filly has now won five stakes, three of them graded, in 12 starts, and has earned $696,103. After a record-setting season in 2020, Into Mischief already has five stakes winners this year, as well as $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) runner-up Largent.

At the break of the six-furlong American Beauty, Amy’s Challenge, the 2019 winner, took the lead, with Frank’s Rockette pressing her through a quarter-mile in :21.47. The duo rolled through a half in :44.68, when Frank’s Rockette began to assert herself, taking over and edging away to win by 1 ¼-lengths in 1:10.03 on a muddy racetrack.

“She broke very alertly, which gave me a great option to be right there off the speed without any effort,” said winning rider Florent Geroux. “And, from there, I was just continuing to get pressure on Amy’s Challenge because, when she’s on the lead, she can be very difficult to pass. I wanted to make sure I didn’t give my filly too much to do down the lane. But she was very professional and when I asked her to go down the lane, she was all in and she gave me everything she had.”

Frank’s Rockette is trained by Bill Mott for her owner/breeder Frank Fletcher, whose home track is Oaklawn. Rocket Twentyone, Frank’s Rockette’s dam, is expecting an Into Mischief foal in 2021.