May Day Rose becomes Rockport Harbor's first graded stakes winner

May Day Rose wins the Santa Ysabel Stakes-G3
Photo: Benoit Photos/Santa Anita

May Day Rose may have beaten only two rivals in Sunday's Santa Ysabel Stakes-G3, but her winning effort elevated the stock of her young sire, Rockport Harbor, when she was crowned as his first graded stakes winner.

The three-year-old bay filly never looked threatened at any point in the mile and a sixteenth contest over Santa Anita's new dirt surface, as she easily put away Bluegrass Cat's daughter, Bluegrass Chatter, and Scarlet Starlet, by up-and-coming A. P. Indy sire, Congrats.  May Day Rose has now won three of her five career starts and earned $184,555.  Even to a casual observer, she just exudes quality.

A registered Florida-bred born on Valentine's Day, May Day Rose was plucked from the OBS June Sale for $220,000 by trainer Bob Baffert, who now conditions her for Kaleem Shah.  She broke her maiden in a five-and-a-half-furlong maiden special weight test at Del Mar in her second start, over Labor Day weekend, and went on to capture the mile and a sixteenth Sharp Cat Stakes at Hollywood in early November.  Baffert stepped her right up into Grade I company in the Hollywood Starlet a month later, where she finished a respectable fourth to Turbulent Descent.

May Day Rose is the third winner from the unraced May Day Bluff (by Danzig's son, Pine Bluff), who previously produced May Day Vow (by Broken Vow), a stakes winner of $166,285 on the New York circuit.  Her third dam is the high-class Hoist the Flag mare, May Day Eighty, who won the Grade I Delaware Handicap.

A good-looking grey son of Unbridled's Song, Rockport Harbor raced with distinction in the colors of Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm, and was considered to be an exciting Derby hopeful until his foot right hind foot was badly injured during the running of the nine-furlong Remsen-G2, which capped off his undefeated four-for-four two-year-old season.  As reported on the Farm's website, "Rocky won in a fantastic time (1:48.88) for the prestigious stakes and made his way to the winner's circle.  It was at this time that it was noticed that Rocky had been stepped on, as his right hind foot gushed blood."

Rockport Harbor was put away to allow his foot to heal, and didn't win again until he captured the Essex Handicap-G3 as a four-year-old.  He seemed on the way back to his old form, but subsequently re-injured the same foot in the Razorback Handicap-G3 a month later.  He was retired to Darley Stud, where he stood for $20,000 in 2007, the year May Day Rose was conceived.  Rockport Harbor's fee for 2011 is $12,500, which looks like a bargain now.

Interestingly, both of Rockport Harbor's first two stakes winners are out of mares by sons of Danzig.  His colt, Bear's Future, who won the seven-furlong Swynford Stakes at Woodbine, is a maternal grandson of Belong to Me.  Like May Day Rose, he is a complete outcross in his first five generations.