Rattle My Cage has become Annie Stoebe’s ride or die
Perry and Annelee Soderberg’s trotter is returning to the races after a two-year break.
by Debbie Little
When owners Perry and Annelee Soderberg of Soderberg Bloodstock LLC decided to bring Rattle My Cage back to the races after more than a two-year break, that included time in the breeding shed, their main focus, as always, was to listen to their horse.
“First of all, my wife Annelee and I, we love this horse, and we bought him as a yearling, so we want him to be happy and healthy and all of that,” said Perry. “And, of course, he raced tremendously well, and he won the [2022] Graduate final easy. And when Sarah Svanstedt drove him and he won in [1]:50.2, she said, ‘If I only knew that we were going that fast, I would have gone a little faster to get a [1]:49 mark on him.’”
The last start for Rattle My Cage was on Dec. 7, 2023, and after a qualifier early in May of 2024 followed by another in early July, according to Perry, trainer Ake Svanstedt said the horse really wasn’t himself, so the Soderbergs moved on to plan B.
“He’s a Love You horse with the French pedigree, and we were kind of hoping that the 6-year-old season would be even better… but there was something with the horse; the horse told us that he wasn’t ready to do it again,” Perry said. “So, we thought about some different options, and why not give him a chance as a stallion… And he benefited greatly from the break that we gave him, but it seemed to us that he really wanted to get back to do more than just breed mares.”
After having vets look over the son of Love You out of the Andover Hall mare Caress The Senses bred by Carter Duer, the Soderbergs decided to give racing another go.
“With his French blood there is a chance that he’d be competitive at this age also, and we want him to be happy and healthy, so we don’t have the same expectations,” Perry said. “We did stake him to everything because he’s that caliber of a horse, but we actually gave him to [trainer] Annie Stoebe because she ran a smaller barn, and she also is going to start riding the horse, and we want him, like I said, to be happy and healthy, and then he’ll let us know what he can do on the racetrack.
“Annie has the experience as a barrel racer, under saddle, and my wife used to ride, and you know, we grew up in that kind of environment where you mix these things, so we just wanted him, at this age, to try something different with a smaller barn.”
HRU caught up with Stoebe on her way home from The Meadowlands on Saturday afternoon (March 21) after Rattle My Cage’s second qualifier. She was “still on cloud nine from that qualifier.”
The now 8-year-old Rattle My Cage, driven by Tim Tetrick, finished second by three-quarters in 1:59.1 in his first qualifier of the year on March 14.
For that first qualifier, after such a long layoff, Stoebe said she told Tetrick to take “Rattle” back off the gate and let him trot home, but the instructions were different for qualifier No. 2.
“When Timmy walked up to me, he’s like, ‘Annie, what’s the plan?’” Stoebe said. “I’m like, ‘He can qualify today.’”
Stoebe said she thought that Rattle My Cage must have heard that conversation, because he was raring to go, winning the qualifier under wraps by 3¼ lengths in 1:54.3.
“I haven’t used [Tetrick] much in the past, so I’m enjoying getting to know him a little better,” Stoebe said. “When I met him on the track after the qualifier and he was grinning from ear-to-ear, I knew we had made the right decision to put him back on his old friend.”
Tetrick apparently wasn’t the only one happy with the qualifier as approaching three-quarters, Rattle My Cage started to drop his head down.
“He does that when he’s playing with me in a training mile, he was playing with Timmy,” Stoebe said. “Perry and Annelee, said ‘Annie, he did the happy head.’ When he is happy and smiling, he just drops his head and floats.
“He’s the only horse I have ever raced without an overcheck.”
Sunday (March 22), the day after his triumphant qualifier, Stoebe rode Rattle My Cage for the first time and said it was as if he had been doing it his entire life.
“I’m telling you, that we were just there, and this horse loves Annie and loves [her boyfriend] Jeremy [Morrison], and he loves Martha [Palafox] who’s taking care of him, and he loves Annie’s dog [Sullivan, an English Mastiff] I mean, they’re playing all the time,” Perry said. “He’s in the first stall; he gets a lot of attention.
“He is so happy. So just by seeing him this way and enjoying his time on the track is reward enough for us… They love the horse as much as he loves them, so he’s in a very good spot right now, and that’s the plan, to see what he can do.”
Stoebe, 38, who has watched Rattle My Cage throughout his career, said she remembered what it was like when he arrived in her barn in October of 2025.
“So, when I walked in, I’m like, ‘Holy crap, this horse is giant,’” she said. “He has the most stunning face and when I walked in, I’m like, ‘I have this horse in my barn.’ To walk in and see a horse you’ve watched for how many years, and now he’s in my barn, was surreal.”
Rattle My Cage, who Annie calls “Razzle Dazzle” is 16.1 hands high, just a little shy of stable star Elista Hanover, who is 16.2.
“So, it’s kind of sad, do you know Jeremy has only gotten to jog him three times?” Stoebe said with a laugh. “I am very selfish with [Rattle], he is my horse. He hugs me every day when we get off the track. He’s a very special horse, and I have a really, really special bond with him. He’s my man in horse form.”
For now, the plan is to race and breed Rattle My Cage.
“I spoke to Marcus Melander the other day, regarding Aetos Kronos [S], you know, they’re bringing him back again,” Perry said. “And he said that when he had his long break, it took him two qualifiers, and he said about three races, and then he started to pick up again, and he became good.
“We expect this to take a little time [with Rattle My Cage], and we’ll see what happens. But also, of course, we hope that he’ll breed a few mares. He’s available at Walnridge Farm. We’ll let the first crop tell us if there are some stars in there.”
Perry has probably evaluated over 70,000 yearlings in his impressive 30-plus-year career. Of the over 25,000 that he’s looked at in a paddock, his first encounter with Rattle My Cage is still clearly stamped in his memory.
“Rattle My Cage is the fastest horse I have ever seen in the paddock as a yearling,” Perry said. “He was going as fast as a horse can go. I don’t always look at speed in the paddock, I look at overall athleticism and attitude and a lot of other things, but by himself, he took off at the highest speed that I ever saw. And then John Duer shook the can just a couple of times, and he dipped his head and took off. I haven’t seen that any time before or after.”
Rattle My Cage, who sold under the name Lexingtonian for $40,000 at the 2019 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, bred 29 mares in 2025 and his first foals are hitting the ground now.
“We’ll make further decisions, depending on how he feels and what he can do, but we’re aiming for the top-level racing like it’s been before, because in France, they race when they’re 10 in the top level, and some over here as well, so, that’s what we’re hoping for,” Perry said. “But we could also consider racing him in a little bit of a lower class, and wait for the first crop to show themselves on the track and see what they look like, what they can do, and then find a spot for him to go back to full-time stud when the time comes.
“This horse is so charismatic, and he had a following when he was on the track; the people just loved the horse, and we love him, and now Annie and Jeremy and the dog, Sullivan, love him, and the horse loves them. So, we want this beautiful, charismatic horse to enjoy things. He loves to train, race, and do this stuff, and that’s why we want to breed to him also, because Love You as a sire of sires is proven in Europe to be super good, and with his attitude, his mentality, his physique, his speed, and everything else, you know, he could be a very good stallion.”
Stoebe said she feels blessed to have Rattle My Cage in her barn.
“My biggest thing with him is he is one of the most intelligent horses I’ve ever been around in my life,” Stoebe said. “He’s a giant puppy dog to be around, and flawless on the track. We need more horses like him. You know, how many sires are coming back at 8 years old and racing? To me that shows what a good horse he really is. And why wouldn’t you breed for longevity and speed and brains? That’s what everybody wants, a horse with a good brain that trots fast and stays sound.
“He’s unreal. I love him. To say I love him is an understatement.”
