Rock Your World’s retirement ends the ride of a lifetime

It did not last as long as they might have wanted, but it was the ride of a lifetime with Rock Your World.

Kosta Hronis. Peter Hronis. Michael Talla. John Sadler. Joel Rosario. Umberto Rispoli. For 10 months they all got to enjoy it.

And just like that, it was over. At least the part that was as thrilling as a rollercoaster ride.

“To have him be the first one to take us to the Kentucky Derby, that’s always going to be special,” co-owner Kosta Hronis told Horse Racing Nation by phone from Delano, Calif., on Monday, the day it was announced Rock Your World had been retired to his new career as a stallion at Spendthrift Farm. “There’s just a lot going on at the Kentucky Derby. To enjoy it as an owner, it’s like you’re on the world stage.”

It was like an NCAA Tournament run for the Hronis brothers. Their “One Shining Moment” was coincidentally the same day as the Final Four began on April 3. That was when Rock Your World pulled off a 5-1 upset in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).

Happy new year

To think it was only New Year’s Day when Sadler had trained Rock Your World, whom the Hronises and Talla bought 16 months earlier as a $650,000 yearling, in a debut victory. Then came another score nearly two months later in the Pasadena Stakes. Just like that, the Candy Ride colt was 2-for-2 on the turf.

“We said we’ll start him on grass, and then when the time is right we’ll try him on dirt,” Sadler said in April. “He’s a big, stretchy colt. He should have no problems with a mile-and-an-eighth, a mile-and-a-quarter. After he won the Pasadena, we said this is a natural progression.” 

“John said, ‘If he earns his stripes, we’ll give him a shot in at the Santa Anita Derby on the dirt, because I think he can run on anything,’” Hronis remembered. “It was like here’s the sketch, and I’ll be darned if it didn’t play out exactly as he had planned.”

By 4 1/4 lengths, no less. And with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100, according to Daily Racing Form. That Santa Anita Derby triumph ended Rispoli’s 0-for-22 lifetime drought in Grade 1 races. It also rewarded the Hronises with a trip to Kentucky, and it took Sadler back to the Derby for the first time in seven years.

“Everybody’s got a different plan,” Sadler said that day. “This was my plan this year, and it worked. So I look smart for about an hour. See me tomorrow.”

Funny he said that. It turned out to be Rock Your World’s last visit to the winner’s circle.

The comet fades

Before the Kentucky Derby, the decision was made to replace Rispoli with Rosario, who had ridden Rock Your World in his debut – and Orb to victory in the 2013 Derby. Bettors were emboldened by that move, and they made the colt who was bred by Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally a 9-2 second choice.

When the bell rang May 1, Rock Your World was late. He started poorly from post 15, and that changed the whole complexion of the Derby. It put Santa Anita Derby runner-up Medina Spirit on a loose lead that he never gave up. Rather than press the pace, Rock Your World beat only two of the other 18 horses.

“He had bad luck in the Derby,” Hronis said. “He broke terribly late, which is his own problem. Then he got bumped. Then he got bumped again in the first turn. He was done at that point. He just said, enough.”

Rock Your World came back in the Belmont Stakes and looked competitive for about a mile before letting Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie have at it the rest of the way. He finished a wilting sixth, the 1 1/2 miles proving to be just too long a test.

“He just tired out at that point,” Hronis said.

Getting back home to Southern California and reuniting with Rispoli might have been a tonic for Rock Your World. He showed a flash of his old self in his final dirt start Aug. 29 at Del Mar, giving Medina Spirit all he could handle in a one-mile duel before finishing a close second in the Shared Belief Stakes.

“We really had our fingers crossed that he could compete with him,” Hronis said. “He changed leads a few times down the lane. That bothered me a little bit more than everybody else, and that’s why I thought going back to the turf was going to be a really good idea. And then that just didn’t work.”

As a 6-5 post-time favorite Oct. 31 at Santa Anita, Rock Your World led all the way to the quarter pole before he faded badly and finished ninth of 10 in the 1 1/8-mile Twilight Derby (G2).

“Him not finishing the race just really kind of fooled us,” Hronis said. “I thought he had worked out really well. Maybe he just decided that he was ready for his next career.”

Rock your breeders

It has already begun for Rock Your World, who is at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky., being shown off to breeders who are looking at both him and a $10,000 sire fee in his first year as a stallion.

“Rock Your World is a fast Santa Anita Derby winner with a wonderful blend of looks, pedigree and sire power,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said in a news release Monday. “He’s a $650,000 yearling, and you can see why.”

After a seven-race ride that brought three victories, a second-place finish and $612,100 in earnings, Rock Your World joined a distinguished list of Grade 1-winning Hronis stallions who include Eclipse Award winner Accelerate, Gift Box, Higher Power, Combatant, Hard Aces and Cistron.

“We enjoyed having him,” Hronis said. “More important for the Hronis family, anytime we can do anything to enhance the John Sadler résumé, it really thrills us to be part of that. I think John’s career has really thrived, and I’m glad we’re a part of that excitement for him.”

And himself? Hronis said it all goes back to that week last spring at Churchill Downs, one that took him and his family away from their everyday farming operation in Central California.

“It seemed like every time the horse went out on the track or even went to the paddock to school, there was just a big Pomp and Circumstance graduation time,” Hronis said. “The walkover and all that stuff, it just seemed like that was a crazy time.”

What’s next?

Seven races in 10 months that took less than 13 minutes to watch. That was crazy enough for Hronis to remember, even as he thought about the week ahead.

“We’ll finish up grapes tomorrow, and I’m actually going start harvesting citrus. And John is back at the barn with the horses, so there’s no rest for the weary.”

And no end to the racing dreams. Before he got back to agribusiness, Hronis closed by dropping the name of his allowance-winning, 3-year-old Tapit colt who has fired two bullets in workouts this month at Santa Anita.

“Make sure you write this down,” he said. “Flightline. The Malibu (G1), the day after Christmas. This horse is different than any other horse. You want to keep your eye on him. Just trust me on this.”