AIKEN, S.C.--Arch Kingsley saddled I'm A Rocket Man (Ire)  to win the $35,000 Maiden Hurdle and Kathy Neilson with L'Avvocato (Fr) won the $25,000 Ratings Handicap Hurdle  at the Aiken Spring Steeplechase on Saturday, March 21.

I'm A Rocket Man over a fence halfway through the race (Photo by Tod Marks)This was I'm a Rocket Man's first race in this country after running five times in Ireland with two third place finishes.

"We brought him over last fall," said Kingsley. "We were going to run him last fall, but he got little hurt when he got here. That gave him a little extra time to get acclimated."

Owned by Hudson River Farms and ridden by Freddie Procter, I'm A Rocket Man won the 2 1/8 mile race by 1 3/4 lengths over Coal Boss, trained by Kate Dalton, and Rotterdam, trained by Ricky Hendriks.

"He's always trained like a nice horse," said Kingsley. "We were really pleased with him. There's a couple of non-winners of two were looking at for him, at Middleburg and at Great Meadows."

Kingsley also had Bee Well run third in the $40,000 Ratings Handicap.

"That was a satisfying performance," said Kinsley. "He was stepping up in class. We think a lot of him."

 

NEILSON saddled Hard Game's L'Avvocato (Fr), ridden by Evan Dwan, to win the $25,000 Ratings Handicap by 2 1/2 lengths over The Insider (Ire), trained by Keri Brion, and Love Shaq, trained by Barry Foley.

"We were blessed to be able to gallop in the snow," said Neilson. "L'Avvocato didn't miss a day of training, so he was raring to go. Evan gave him a nice relaxed race. He jumped well and finished strong. He'll probably go to Iroquois where he ran well last year, finishing third."

Brion saddled Serio Racing Stable's St James the Great, ridden by Stephen Mulqueen, to win the $40,000 Imperial Cup Ratings Handicap by 4 1/2 lengths over Rucker Road (Ire), trained by Leslie Young, and Bee Well.

Todd McKenna saddled Molly Willis' Claramente, ridden by Mulqueen, to win the $30,000 Filly and Mare Maiden Hurdle by 1 length over Diamond Approach, trained by Foley, and Articuno, trained by Hendriks.

Kate Dalton trained Pudding Lane, owned by Riverdee Stable and ridden by Bernie Dalton to win the #20,000 Maiden Starter/Maiden Claiming Hurdle by 1 length over Grahamzilla, trained by Hendriks, and Morning March, trained by Brion.

Hendriks trainee's ran one two in the Training Flat, with Del rio Racing's Fil D'Or (Fr) winning by 5 34 lengths over Starforce.