Longshot Mandate with jockey Andrew Wolfsont went to the far outside to find running room and sealed the deal with a late move for the lead to win the Artie Schiller at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.
The gelded son of Blame sat toward the back of the pack early in the one-mile turf stakes, content to wait for the far turn to make a move for position. Wolfsont took Mandate three-wide on the turn, with leader Rinaldi still on the front as they hit the stretch.
In the Aqueduct straight, though, Rinaldi could not hold on, with Tell Your Daddy gaining ground to bid for the lead as Mandate built up momentum on their outside. In late stretch, the longshot took over, pulling away to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Tell Your Daddy was second and Flavius got up at the end to take third.
The final time for the Artie Schiller was 1:39.07. Find this race's chart here.
Mandate paid $91.50, $30.40, and $10.00. Tell Your Daddy paid $4.50 and $2.60. Flavius paid $2.80.
“He made that outside move and in that same position as in his last race at Laurel. It just looked like a replay of his last race. When I saw those white blinkers making up ground on the outside, I got excited. I had faith in the horse, he was doing everything well,” trainer Robert Johnston said after the race. “His last race made him eligible for the Claiming Crown so we could still go there. Laurel still has grass, too. If we went to the Claiming Crown, we would go and come back. We're team players so if he needs to stay down there with someone else, so be it. Whatever is best for the horse.”
“I'm on cloud nine. This is the biggest stakes race I've won in my career. I won a few other state-bred stakes up in Pennsylvania, so this is pretty special for me, ” Wolfsont told the NYRA Press Office after the Artie Schiller.
Bred in Kentucky by International Equities Holding Inc., Mandate is out of the Empire Maker mare Bonnie's Empire. He is owned by Bruno Schickedanz. The 4-year-old gelding was consigned by Gainesway and sold to Michael C. Stinson for $200,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
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