Bubble Rock broke alertly and led every step of the way to win the Nov. 25 $300,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2T) for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs by 1 1/4 lengths over Joyful Applause.
A homebred for John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable, Bubble Rock ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.05 over a firm Matt Winn Turf Course to collect her third stakes win and second against graded company.
Bubble Rock, who previously captured the Matron Stakes (G3T) at age 2 and the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park earlier this year for trainer Brad Cox, rewarded her backers with $2 mutuels of $5.32, $3.48 and $3.46 as the 8-5 betting choice in the field of 10 fillies.
Piloted by Joel Rosario, the daughter of More Than Ready went straight to the front and set moderate fractions of :24.17, :49.26 and 1:13.75 as longshots Joyful Applause and Take a Stand tracked about one length back in second and third, respectively, down the backstretch. Bubble Rock was never seriously threatened into the final turn or in the stretch and the top three finished in the same position nearly all the way around the trip.
"She broke very well from the gate and took me to an easy lead down the stretch," Rosario said. "She got into a really good rhythm and we weren't going too fast down the backside. I could feel around the turn I still had a lot of horse beneath me and she was able to kick clear in the stretch."
Joyful Applause, at odds of 34-1 under Edgar Morales, paid $18.52 and $11.80. Take a Stand, ridden by Fernando De La Cruz, was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third at 38-1 and paid $15.72 to show.
Lovely Princess, Quality Star, She's Gone, Lady Puchi, Fancy Martini, California Angel, and Sweet Lady Ivanka completed the order of finish. Have a Good Day was scratched.
The winner's share of the purse pushed Bubble Rock's earnings to $508,793 from a record of 4-2-1 in 10 starts. Prior to the Mrs. Revere, Bubble Rock finished fourth late after leading for most of the way in the Oct. 28 Rubicon Valley View Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland.
"We're very proud of her effort today," Cox said. "She's a filly that we tried multiple distances with and at the end of a 3-year-old campaign this was a target for us. She's run well at Turfway in the past so we could keep that as a target this winter."
Bred in Kentucky, Bubble Rock is out of the Giant's Causeway mare Reef Point, a half sister to Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) third place finisher Blue Chipper (Tiznow). A daughter of the grade 2-winning mare Dixie City, Reef Point has a 2-year-old colt by Candy Ride named Great Barrier and delivered a Twirling Candy colt this past breeding season.
