There must be something about Kentucky in the fall brings out the best in Rocketry. He returned to the Bluegrass State for the first time in two years on Friday, and got his first win in two years when storming down the center of the Keeneland main track to win the Grade 2, $200,000 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes for 3-year-olds and up. The TAA, at 1 5/8 miles, was formerly known as the Marathon, the label it had in 2018 when Rocketry won it at Churchill Downs going 1 3/4 miles. He had lost nine times since then, six times in 2019, three times this year, but led home a parade of longshots in the last race preceding the Breeders’ Cup portion of the Friday card. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2020: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Rocketry (11-1) got past 33-1 Mirinaque in the closing yards and won by one length, with 53-1 Dack Janiel’s, who had led for a good portion of the race, another length back in third. The winning exacta paid $860 for $2, the trifecta $7,180.40 for 50 cents, and the superfecta – with 9-1 Danny California fourth – returned $19,293.89 for a dime. Muralist was fifth and was followed, in order, by Plus Que Parfait, Signalman, Tenfold, You’re to Blame, Job Security, Farmington Road, Cupid’s Claws (the 3-1 favorite), Militiaman, and Ry’s the Guy in the full field of 14. Rocketry ($25.20), who was well back early in 13th under Irad Ortiz Jr., began making significant progress on the far turn and kept charging through the lane. He covered the 13 furlongs on the fast track in 2:42.57. The win was the sixth in 26 lifetime starts for Rocketry, a 6-year-old horse whom Jimmy Jerkens trains for Centennial Farms. He earned $120,000 on Friday to bring his career earnings to $789,710. This was his third stakes victory, his second in graded company. Rocketry won the 1 5/8-mile Temperence Hill at Belmont Park in September 2018 in his final prep before the 2018 Marathon. This year, he was distant third in the Miner’s Mark going 1 1/2 miles at Belmont on Sept. 18 against fellow TAA rivals Danny California and You’re To Blame. Then he got back to Kentucky, and the boosters fired.