Prior to the running of the GI Belmont S., Jena Antonucci was hardly a household name, even within racing circles. Not anymore. The win she pulled off with Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the Belmont and the story it involved, a female trainer with a small stable and her $35,000 yearling creating history at Belmont Park, has energized an industry that was desperate for some good news.
How did she do it and what did the win mean to her? Those were among the questions we asked her when Antonucci joined the team for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Antonucci was the Green Group Guest of the Week.
So far as why her story has been such a popular one, Antonucci believes people relate to someone who keeps going in the face of adversity.
“There have been opportunities that I have wanted or that I have been asking for and the answers were no. And no is two letters,” she said. “It doesn't define where you're going and what you're doing. It's a no right now, but it may be a yes later. So handle yourself appropriately. But if you're not happy with what's happening in your space, don't be a victim to that. It's up to you to take ownership of that and to pivot.”
It remains to be seen if the Belmont win will change the course of Antonucci's career and improve the type of horses she gets to train. Whether it does or not, the trainer said she will keep doing things the way she has always done them, focusing on surrounding herself with quality people and doing her best by the horses.
“My focus is to deal with good people,” she said. “When you deal with good people, good things will happen and our focus will never change with that. As for the horses, we're going to do our best to steward the best possible outcomes for the horses that come into our hands. That's always been a core foundation of who I am as a person. I've said it from day one–I'll never train a million horses, but any horse that comes through our hands, we're going to do our absolute best to make responsible decisions and steward the best possible outcomes we can no matter what those outcomes are.”
Antonucci has been on a whirlwind media tour since the Belmont and has been an ambassador for the sport. What is the message she wants to convey about racing?
“That it's amazing and it's full of amazing people,” she said. “I'll talk about the taboo topic and I don't have a problem talking about it. It's breakdowns and fatalities. I very clearly understand that the general public views our industry as [if] we're profiting from horses and we're killing them. That's the thread that we are all trying to navigate and do better with. So if we aren't telling our story and if we aren't sharing with people how we're doing better, whether you want to lean into HISA or not, we have to. We have to and we are. We are doing better and we will continue to do better. It's about setting realistic expectations and educating people on what amazing things happen and what amazing lives these horses have and how much they enrich life for so many people.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, 1/st Racing, WinStar Farm, XBTV, Lane's End and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman reviewed the Belmont and the races on the Belmont undercard and delved into the recent developments involving Linda Rice and Kent Desormeaux.
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