Rose Run Zoey seems to have overcome her demons

Rose Run Zoey (Lather Up) has thankfully overcome the demons which plagued her as a youngster, to the tune of a recent track-equaling 1:49.4 winning effort at Eldorado Scioto Downs on June 22.

“Mentally, she was just out there,” said her trainer Ryan Miller, who is based at Greenville, Ohio. “It didn’t matter what it was—outriders, blankets, etc. You could barely get a bridle on her, almost to the point where she was dangerous. I thought there was a lot of talent there, but I didn’t stake her early on because she was such a psychopath. However, just about two weeks before she qualified, she kind of got her brains in order and stopped being so scared of things. This year, she’s one hundred percent more relaxed and completely comfortable in her own skin.”

That comfortability has certainly paid off for the sophomore filly, who has now earned $237,330 for Miller Racing Stable of Ohio and the Let It Ride Stables of Florida.

Bred by the Rose Run Farm of Sugarcreek, Ohio, Rose Run Zoey was born on Feb. 14, 2021, and is the fourth of six foals out of the Badlands Hanover p, 2, 1:50z ($754,772) mare Crying Game p, 3, Q1:58.1s ($7,946); herself out of the mare Aucryifiwanto p, 3, 1:54.2f ($172,781). Rose Run Zoey is thus a half-sister to Rose Run Xplosion (Downbytheseaside) p, 4, 1:49.4f ($215,991); Tide Has Turned (by Downbytheseaside) p, 3, 1:52.1h ($87,782); and Rose Run Warrior (Racing Hill) p, 3, 1:53.3f ($47,261). She was a $34,000 yearling purchase at the 2022 Ohio Selected Jug Sale.

ROSE RUN ZOEY REPLAY

That victory in a $65,000 Ohio Sires Stakes (OSS) leg at Scioto last week was a culmination of perseverance on the part of both trainer Ryan and Rose Run Zoey’s driver Tyler Smith, who has been behind the filly in all of her trips postward, save one.

“Physically last year she was superior to most of the other 2-year-old fillies she was racing against, Ryan said. “So, in that regard she hasn’t changed that much. But this season she’s had lots of little health problems and putting her on Lasix probably helped her too.”

Rose Run Zoey began her career last season at 2 with a second-place finish in a $40,000 OSS contest at Scioto on July 8 and followed that up with another second-place finish at Northfield Park on July 19 and a third-place finish at that same oval on July 26.

On Aug. 3 she got her first career win, scoring in 1:51.3 in a $57,000 Ohio Fair Stake. She was then second in a $55,000 OSS on Aug. 11 before winning a $55,000 OSS leg on Aug 25 in 1:51.2 by six lengths impressively. She was third in the $300,000 OSS Final on Sept. 9, and then equaled the track record with a 1:52.2 victory at Delaware when she won the $137,460 Ohio Breeders Championship on Sept. 17.

This season Rose Run Zoey debuted in a $15,000 Almahurst Series leg on May 17 at Scioto, finishing third, and was third again, timed in 1:52.1 on May 27 in a second leg. She was scratched sick on June 12 but rebounded to score a winning Hoosier Park qualifier on Lasix for the first time, in 1:51.1.

“Once she qualified at Hoosier in that fashion, I knew we were going in the right direction,” Ryan said. “Getting rid of all the little things that were bugging her, combined with the addition of Lasix was the key.”

Rose Run Zoey paced her final panel in that track-record performance in :27.1. Her previous last quarters had been in the :29 to28 ranges. Ryan said he is confident that the filly can hold her own against any of Ohio’s best sophomore fillies.

“We’ve got the Nadia Lobell in a few weeks and after that some sire stakes, and then hopefully, we’ll get an invite to the Courageous Lady,” he said. “We’re just really pleased with her latest performance and looking forward to a good year with her.”

Lather Up, who after a tremendous racing career that saw him earn $1,735,623 under the direction of George Teague, Jr., and record a 4-year-old mark of 1:46, entered the Ohio breeding shed at Sugar Valley Farm in 2020. That first year he serviced 129 mares; in 2021 he bred 114; in 2022 he bred 78; in 2023, he serviced 86 mares. To date he has had 85 starters, with 19 clocked in 1:55 or faster, with total foal earnings of $1,434,312. Rose Run Zoey is his fastest and richest daughter.

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink