Owner Frank Fletcher is Derby Dreaming
At 0h24, on April 1, 2023 • By OAKLAWN PARK
Frank Fletcher still has Derby fever, but it’s not the Kentucky kind.
Fletcher was raised in tiny Tamo, Ark., about 80 miles southeast of Hot Springs, attended the University of Arkansas and later became a highly successful businessman in the state, with interests ranging from furs to restaurants, hotels to automobile dealerships.
Fletcher, 80, is also a longtime Thoroughbred owner and considers Oaklawn, naturally, his home track. It’s easy to connect the remaining dots since Oaklawn annually runs the race Fletcher covets more than any – the Arkansas Derby.
Fletcher, who won his first race at Oaklawn in 1989, has started only two horses in the Arkansas Derby, finishing third in 2001 with Son of Rocket and seventh in 2007 with Officer Rocket. Both were trained by the late Bob Holthus, Oaklawn’s all-time winningest trainer.
Fletcher, the colorful North Little Rock, Ark., owner will have another opportunity Saturday when his Rocket Can, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, starts in the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1). The 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby is Oaklawn’s fourth and final Kentucky Derby points race.
“I love the Arkansas Derby,” Fletcher said moments after last Sunday’s post position draw in the Larry Snyder Winner’s Circle. “We love this race. I told Wally Hall (longtime Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports editor) all my life that my whole life’s dream was to win the Arkansas Derby. And if I did that, I didn’t care if I ever got in the Kentucky Derby. If I were to win the Arkansas Derby, I would just probably tell Mott to go ahead and do whatever he wants to. I’m just going to stay here and get on top of this statue out front and sit there for about a week.”
Rocket Can represents Fletcher’s best Arkansas Derby chance to date after winning the $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) Feb. 4 and finishing second behind champion Forte in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) March 4. Both 1 1/16-mile races were at Gulfstream Park.
By super sire Into Mischief out of the Tapit mare, Tension, Rocket Can has flourished since moving to two turns last fall. Rocket Can broke his maiden Oct. 30 at Churchill Downs, then finished second, beaten a half-length by Confidence Game, in a first-level allowance Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs. Both races were 1 1/16 miles. Confidence Game returned to win the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2), Oaklawn’s final major prep for the Arkansas Derby, Feb. 25.
After winning the Holy Bull by three-quarters of a length, Rocket Can, in his last start, was beaten 4 ½ lengths by Forte in the Fountain of Youth. Forte, an Eclipse Award winner at 2, is favored in Kentucky Derby future wagering.
“Forte was faster than us, there’s no question,” Fletcher said. “But he had the best trip in the world in the Fountain of Youth. He’s a very fast runner, but he never got banged or hit or anything. He’s going to be one of the top two or three favorites in the Kentucky Derby. But our horse is built, I like to say, more like a linebacker than a running back. He’s strong and he can take a bump in that first turn and he’ll keep on going.”
Rocket Can, like Forte, has been based this winter and early spring in south Florida. Mott opted for a road trip after it was announced Forte would stay home and run in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) Saturday at Gulfstream Park, with the Arkansas Derby and $1 million Blue Grass Stakes (G1) April 8 at Keeneland becoming the two next-race targets.
