When Arcangelo charged up the rail to win the Belmont Stakes (G1), the spotlight immediately fell on Jena Antonucci. She shed tears of joy as the first woman to train the winner of a Triple Crown race.
Antonucci would be the first to emphasize, however, that her historic breakthrough was the product of a special team and a rare atmosphere she created after she opened her stable in 2012.
“It's a family more than it is a work environment,” Antonucci said.
She was referring to her staff at large, but prominent among them are assistant trainer Fiona Goodwin and Goodwin's husband, Robert Mallari, who has galloped Arcangelo since he was a baby.
Goodwin, 48, from County Kerry, Ireland, has been with Antonucci from the start. When Antonucci recently sent a string of eight horses to Saratoga Race Course that included the Belmont winner, she dispatched Goodwin to oversee them.
“She is a heck of a horsewoman. She has an extensive background. I've always very much trusted her opinion,” Antonucci said. “We've been able to respectfully disagree only a handful of times. How a team can handle things like that is extremely important.”
Goodwin welcomes Antonucci's can-do attitude. “She's just a very positive person to be around. She's not a yeller or a screamer. She wants to lift people up,” the assistant trainer said. “She does more for people than any trainer I've ever worked for.”
Mallari, 59, a former jockey who hails from the Philippines, is a great fit for Arcangelo. The Arrogate colt was quite the project as a May 11 foal. He did not launch his career until the final month of his 2-year-old season and did not break his maiden until March 18 at Gulfstream Park. While his studdish behavior only complicates matters, Mallari has met all challenges.
“He just has a great feel. He's been doing it a very long time. He just knows what a good horse feels like and he listens to the horses,” Antonucci said. “That's invaluable to help the program and help the horse.”
Goodwin and Mallari agree that a key to developing Arcangelo is knowing to stay out of his way. “Good horses always train themselves,” Mallari said. “When I ride him, I just guide him. He does everything by himself. He knows when to change the lead. You don't need to ask him. He does it himself.”
There is nothing like experience to aid a young horse's development. Arcangelo's past performances reflect that. Since his initial victory, he added the Peter Pan (G3) at Belmont Park and then the mile-and-a-half final leg of the Triple Crown.
“He used to be a handful,” Mallari said. “Now that he has some races under his belt, he's getting smarter. Now, he's a brilliant horse.”
Arcangelo has become responsive not only to Mallari but also to Basha, a pony who has evolved into his best buddy and his traveling companion.
Mallari has worked for a long list of trainers, among them Todd Pletcher, Nick Zito, Kiaran McLaughlin, Tom Albertrani and H. James Bond. That background helps him appreciate Arcangelo and all he means to Antonucci's modest stable.
“Jena is not as big as Todd Pletcher or any one of those people. That's why, when you have this kind of horse, it's very special,” Mallari said. “Todd Pletcher, Brad Cox, horses come to them every year. For us, it's once in a blue moon. So we always cherish that kind of horse.”
Goodwin and Mallari have one child, Sean, 17. They are making sure to enjoy the ride and will never forget that magical Belmont.
“When the race ran, your heart was in your mouth. Butterflies don't even describe it. You can't even describe the feeling,” Goodwin said. “When he got ahead in the straight, you feel like your heart was just going to explode.”
Although Mallari knows his riding career is nearing an end, Arcangelo is worth continuing to awaken at 3 a.m. Antonucci is carefully managing the sophomore with an eye toward what she and others believe might be a huge 4-year-old campaign.
“We know he's a good horse. I want to find out myself how good he is,” Mallari said. “Knock on wood he stays sound, he will win a lot of races.”
For now, no one will forget the afternoon at Belmont Park when Antonucci proved to naysayers that a woman can play the game at the highest level. “It really was a boost for women everywhere and in this industry, too, because it really is kind of a man's world over here,” Goodwin said. “For a woman to do that, it was phenomenal. It's good for the sport, I think.
“No matter what, she is in the history books for this. No one can ever take that away from her. It's so brilliant.”
And so is Antonucci's team.
Tom Pedulla, 2022 recipient of the Walter Haight Award from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.
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