Rock N Roll Heaven tops One More Laugh

Rock N Roll Heaven showed his versatility and speed when he came from off the pace to win the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine in a stakes record time of 1:48.4 Sunday at Harrah's Chester. He followed One More Laugh, who beat him by a head in the Meadowlands Pace, and then paced away from his rival to win by 2 1/2 lengths and snag a big victory.

 

The Battle got underway with plenty of action as several drivers had their horses fired up to lead. "Before the race I was going to the front, but when I saw everybody leaving, I decided to go back," said winning driver Dan Dube of his strategy.

 

World Of Rocknroll, racing out of the Ron Burke Stable for the first time and with George Brennan in the sulky, took control of the race and reached the first quarter in :26.1. There was no movement until late in the homestretch when Tim Tetrick tipped One More Laugh, who started from post two.

 

From that point on the battle was on. World Of Rocknroll hit the half in :53.4, with the outer tier fully developed, with Tetrick's move flushing Delmarvalous, driven by Brian Sears. Dube was following Tetrick and One More Laugh. Meanwhile, Brett Miller kept We Will See racing in the pocket.

 

On the last turn World of Rocknroll began to tire and One More Laugh edged to the front on the outside as the three-quarter time was clocked in 1:21. But in the homestretch, Dube gave Rock N Roll Heaven a clear path and the colt by Rocknroll Hanover cruised to the finish line.

 

Bruce Saunders trains Rock N Roll Heaven for owner Frank Bellino. The colt now has seven wins in 12 starts and more than $900,000 in earnings for the season.

 

In a post-race interview, Dube not only talked about his race strategy, but also explained that he took the colt back to the paddock before the race when he noticed a tire needed air.  In addition, when asked about a possible start in the Little Brown Jug, Dube said that Saunders plans to train Rock N Roll Heaven over the Yonkers Raceway half-mile oval to make sure the colt can handle the Delaware, Ohio, oval.