Roll On Big Joe. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Earns First Stakes Win In Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Stakes Going 6 Furlongs At Santa Anita
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—Roll On Big Joe earned the biggest win of his career Saturday when scoring a front-running victory under Umberto Rispoli in Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Palos Verdes going six furlongs at Santa Anita.
Sent off the 2-1 second choice, Roll On Big Joe broke alertly and soon found himself dueling on the lead down the backstretch with For All Mankind (9-2) through an opening quarter mile in 22.40 seconds. Roll On Big Joe edged clear of that rival on the turn, reached the quarter pole in 44.16 seconds and extended his lead through the stretch to win by four lengths. For All Mankind, ridden by Antonio Fresu, held second by three-quarters of a length over 3-2 favorite Bartholdy.
Roll On Big Joe, trained by Bob Hess Jr., won in final time of 1:08.60. In his only previous stakes try, Roll On Big Joe finished second behind champion Straight No Chaser in last fall’s GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship.
Rispoli had also ridden Roll On Big Joe for his previous four starts, which includes the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. Most recently, they teamed to win a second-level allowance going 6 ½ furlongs Jan. 3 at Santa Anita.
“He always breaks sharp,” Rispoli said. “The key with him is not to fight him…today he was really relaxed for me. At the three-eighths, he pointed his ears and I said, “OK, we look like we are in good shape.”
Roll On Big Joe is a 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding by Prospective. He improved to 15: 5-5-1 with $298,580 in earnings for owners Rancho Temescal LLC, White Fence LLC and Richard Hale Jr.
“The owners were patient with him when he was young and allowed him to go through some growing pains,” Hess said. “I think he’s improving.”
Roll On Big Joe’s chances received a big lift Saturday morning when 2-5 morning line favorite, Big City Lights, was scratched by trainer Richard Mandella. Hess said he had a flight booked to Oaklawn Park for Roll On Big Joe on Tuesday but decided to stay after the favorite scratched.
The Palos Verdes is Hess’s his first graded stakes win since 2023 in the GIII Cougar II Stakes at Del Mar with Order and Law. It’s his first Santa Anita graded stakes win since 2022 when Cairo Memories won the GIII Honeymoon Stakes.
Said Hess: “Rancho Temescal and the Cohen family has been great for the industry for 50 years. Then we brought in Dick Hale, who I’ve worked for for 35 years, and David Marabella, who I’ve worked for for 30 years. It’s very satisfying for me, more for the people involved.”
Roll On Big Joe paid $6.00, $3.40 and $2.20. For All Mankind, ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer John Sadler, returned $3.80 and $2.40. Bartholdy, with Tyler Baze up for trainer Steve Knapp, paid $2.10.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Santa Anita with a 10-race card starting at 12:30 p.m. PT.
Jockey Quotes
Umberto Rispoli, Roll On Big Joe, Winner: “He always breaks sharp. The key with him is not to fight him. Once you fight with him he’s set. He likes to drift out, but today he was really relaxed for me. At the three-eighths, he pointed his ears and I said, ‘Okay, we look like we are in good shape.’
“For All Mankind on the outside, he broke sharp, so we went together but I think I managed the speed well and got him to relax. Obviously when you have the lead on the dirt, it changes a lot of things. He is improving, race by race. Bob is doing a good job and who knows how good he can be.”
Trainer Quotes
Robert B. Hess, Roll On Big Joe, Winner: “The owners were patient with him when he was young and allowed him to go through some growing pains. I think he’s gradually improving. I haven’t thought about the next step. I had a flight booked Tuesday for Oaklawn Park but when Big City Lights scratched, I decided to stay here.
“Rancho Temescal and the Cohen family has been great for the industry for 50 years. Then we brought in Dick Hale who I’ve worked for, for about 35 years and David Marabella, who I’ve worked for, for about 30 years. So, it’s very satisfying for me, more for the people involved.”
