Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo worked five furlongs in 1:00.21 Sunday over the Saratoga Race Course main track in preparation for the $1.25-million Travers (G1) on August 26.
Accompanied to the track by trainer Jena Antonucci on her pony and piloted through the work by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, the Belmont Stakes (G1) winner was caught by NYRA clockers galloping out strongly through fractions of 1:26 1/5, 1:39 and 1:53.
“It was a little more serious work,” Castellano said. “I usually hold him together. Today, I let him stretch out a little bit. I like the way he did it today – good fractions and a good move. The best thing for him is galloping out — he reaches out longer.
“In the turn, I asked a little bit and he took off. I just dropped my hands and let him roll,” added Castellano. “The boss wanted me to put on a good show today. I had been holding and keeping him fresh, but we are in a stage to make it serious because we are facing the best 3-year-olds in the country. You have to put a good foundation in and I think he does.”
Castellano, who is also the regular pilot of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and Travers contender Mage, has yet to make a riding commitment.
Antonucci said Arcangelo nearly got two works for the price of one when the Arrogate colt attempted to join in on another breeze during his impressive gallop out.
“He swapped leads and went to go again,” said Antonucci, with a laugh. “That's a good quality for a horse to have. We finally got him pulled up over the three-eighths pole. He was kind of pleased with himself.
“He's happy and he loves it and he's enjoying it,” Antonucci added. “What better gift could I have?”
A three-time winner of five starts, The $35,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase won the Peter Pan (G3) in May at Belmont Park ahead of his Belmont coup.
He has breezed on a roughly every 10-day schedule since returning to the work tab on July 5 at Saratoga. Antonucci said the colt thrives on spacing between his races and works and she is listening attentively to her horse as she prepares him for a cut back to 10-furlongs in the Travers.
“He has a great foundation. His speed is there. I don't need to keep putting more speed into this horse, it's there,” Antonucci said. “Obviously, making sure a horse like this has the foundation he needs when we have to call upon it is the most important thing and that's my focus for him.”
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