Tag: arrogate

Tough Call For Castellano: Who to Ride in Travers?

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – To Mage (Good Magic) or to Arcangelo (Arrogate)? That is the question Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano faces as he decides which colt he will ride in the GI Travers S. on Aug. 26.

For Castellano, who has a record six wins in the oldest and most famous stake at Saratoga Race Course, it is a beautiful yet difficult problem. An embarrassment of riches. He must choose between Mage, who carried him to his first victory in the GI Kentucky Derby, or Arcangelo, his first GI Belmont S. winner. The trainers of both horses–Gustavo Delgado handles Mage and Jena Antonucci, who has developed Arcangelo–want his services in the Travers.

With two weeks and a few days to go, Castellano, 45, has yet to announce whether he will be on the gray, Arcangelo, or the chestnut, Mage.

“They're both really good horses,” Castellano said. “You can't compare them. They are both well bred. One, he wins the Derby. One, he wins the Belmont. They both fit perfectly in the distance and they have proved it. It's tough.”

Both colts are connected to the Travers through their pedigrees. Arcangelo's sire, Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), won the 2016 Travers at 11-1 in a track record time of 1:59.36. Mage is from the first crop of Good Magic (Curlin), who finished ninth as the favorite in the 2018 Travers, his final career start.

Castellano's connection with Delgado goes back decades to their home country, Venezuela, where his father rode for the distinguished trainer, who is now based in Florida. He has ridden Mage four times: fourth in the GII Fountain of Youth S., the Derby victory, third in the GI Preakness, and, most recently, second in the GI Haskell on July 22. On Arcangelo for Antonucci, he is perfect: a Mar. 18 maiden special weight at Gulfstream, the GII Peter Pan S. and the Belmont, both at Belmont Park.

“I keep praying and I hope I make the right decision because somebody is going to get upset,” he said.

Through the decades, the outcome of the Travers, first run in 1864, has often helped determine the 3-year-old male division championship. That very well could happen again this year with the three Triple Crown race winners, Mage, Preakness victor National Treasure (Quality Road) and Arcangelo on course for the race.

Will Castellano be aboard Arcangelo or Mage?

“I really don't know,” he said after working Arcangelo Sunday morning.

Castellano said he was impressed with the way Arcangelo breezed five furlongs in 1:00.21 and followed with a lusty gallop out. He said the colt owned by Blue Rose Farm is now more focused about his works and does things very easily.

While that was an endorsement, Castellano said it does not mean he has committed to the colt for the Travers.

“We'll see. We'll see how he comes out of this work,” Castellano said. “I have to meet with Gustavo to see what is his plan.”

In his first timed work after the Haskell, Mage breezed five furlongs in 1:01.03 on Saturday under his regular exercise rider, J.J. Delgado. He is likely to work again Friday.

Castellano said that Mage “put in a great effort in the Haskell. He ran such a great race. Unfortunately, he finished second, but he made a great effort. He missed a couple of works going into that race. I think he's a good horse.”

In 27 seasons of riding in North America, Castellano has 5,687 wins from 31,531 starts. He is second behind John Velazquez in career earnings with $388,185,850. Despite all his experience and success, Castellano said this who-shall-I-ride quandry is new territory for him.

“We're talking about two Triple Crown horses. It's never happened before in my life,” he said. “Of course, I've had a lot of tough decisions with 3-year-old campaigns in the past. I've been in that position before, but not like this. This is really, really special. This is something you have to be very careful with. Everything works out for some reason. I'll keep praying, hope I make the right decision and go from there.”

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Three Champs Lead Class of 2023 into Hall of Fame

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Co-owner and co-breeder Steve Coburn was a quotable presence during California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit)'s fine career and delivered again Friday when the California-bred was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

Champions California Chrome, Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) and Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro), all in their first year of eligibility, joined jockey Corey Nakatani in the contemporary class of 2023. Fernando Toro was selected by the Historic Review Committee. Three people–the late John Hanes II, the late Leonard Jerome and Stella F. Thayer–were inducted as Pillars of the Turf in the ceremony at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion.

Award-winning journalist Edward Bowen, a museum trustee who has chaired a number of Hall of Fame committees, was presented with the inaugural Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Award for his contributions to the museum.

With his big cowboy hat in hand, Coburn accepted for California Chrome, winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. and G1 Dubai World Cup and a two-time Horse of the Year. California Chrome won 16 of 27 starts, a total of seven Grade I races and earned $14,752,650.

Coburn thanked the horse for taking him and his wife in a remarkable journey over five seasons. He praised the work of trainer Art Sherman and his son and assistant Alan, and the staff, who he named, for the way they developed and handled the horse.

California Chrome's story–from his modest breeding, to difficulty the mare Love the Chase had with his foaling, to his personality and his connections–blended nicely with his success on the track and produced a legion of fans who called themselves “Chromies.”

“The mare had problems giving birth to Chrome, so as a baby, he was in the stall with the mare,” Coburn said. “He wasn't turned out with the rest of them. The only time he got to play with anybody was when they came to check on him. That's how come he became so loveable to people. He just liked people. I don't know how to express the love that people gave this horse. The Chromies are here. They've come in from all over the place, you know. Thank you.”

As he moved to the end of his remarks, Coburn, hesitated for a moment to control his emotions.

“Last but not least, I would like to thank that little nervous filly, Love the Chase,” he said. “Without her we wouldn't have Chrome and for Chrome to be inducted into the Hall of Fame it's indescribable. Just like winning the Kentucky Derby. This is a good way to say that story has come to an end. I told Laffit Pincay, III after he won the Santa Anita Derby, 'Mark my words. This horse is going to go down in history.' And today's the day. Period.”

Nakatani, 52, was the final inductee on the program. He came to the sport as a teenager with no background with horses, but fashioned an outstanding 31-year career. He won 3,909 races; 10 of his 341 graded stakes wins came in the Breeders' Cup. His $234,554,534 in purse earnings ranks 14th.

To describe his attitude and determination, Nakatani told the story of what he did in a game of youth football. He said he weighed about 58 pounds at the time and was told by his coach to run around a defensive player to score a touchdown. Instead, he decided to try to run over the other player and was stopped on the two-yard line.

“Long story short, that was the first time that I was told not to do something and was like 'I better just go it.' That tells my career in a nutshell,” he said as the audience roared.

Nakatani was built to be a jockey, and, despite his lack of experience, he developed the skill needed to succeed against the odds on the tough Southern California circuit.

“The guys I was riding against were Gary Stevens, Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay,  all these Hall of Fame riders,” he said. “I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to ride with them and take a lot of learning from all of it. Sandy Hawley. Alex Solis. All the guys that I had the chance to ride with, even the King of Saratoga, Angel (Cordero, Jr.). These guys have a special place in my heart.”

Toro, 82, did not make the cross-continent trip from his home in California and will be honored at Del Mar. The native of Chile, was a top rider in his home country before moving to California in 1966. He retired in 1990 with North America totals of 3,555 victories and purse earnings of $56,299,765. He won 80 graded stakes. At the time of his retirement, he was sixth in stakes wins at Del Mar, eighth at Hollywood Park and tied for eighth at Santa Anita.

During the ceremony, a video was shown of how California turf writers Jay Hovdey and Jay Privman told Toro that he had been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Arrogate, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, showed that he had the makings of a superstar in the 2016 GI Travers just down the street from the sales pavilion at Saratoga Race Course. In his first graded stakes attempt, he won by 13 1/2 lengths and broke a 37-year-old track record for 1 1/4 miles. He went on to win the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, edging California Chrome, the 2017 GI Pegasus World Cup and the 2017 Dubai World Cup in a seven-race win streak. The gray colt owned by Juddmonte Farm retired with a record $17,422,600 in purse earnings.

Dr. John Chandler accepted on behalf of Juddmonte Farms, the racing powerhouse launched by the late Saudi Prince Khalid bin Abdullah.

“It's very sad that Prince Khalid himself unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago,” Chandler said. “He would have liked to have been here and appreciate the recognition.”

Arrogate was a departure from the norm for Prince Khalid's international stable.

“For many years at Juddmonte, we had a lot of turf horses, because our racing started in England,” Chandler said. “We were going through a bad spell after our trainer Bobby Frankel passed away. The Prince had been looking through all the results, week after week, and he said, 'This man in California, Bob Baffert, is doing very well isn't he, training a lot of winners. Why don't we send him some horses?'”

Since Baffert mainly trained dirt horses, Chandler said the turf horses bred by Juddmonte would not be a good fit. He said the Prince said, 'So, we'll buy some dirt horses.' The trainer and Garrett (O'Rourke, Juddmonte's U.S. manager), went to the sales and they bought some horses, some nice, expensive dirt horses. One of them turned out to be Arrogate. That brought the Prince more pleasure than anything else that I'd seen in a long time. We're very grateful to the Hall of Fame committee to take our horse. All I can say is thank you.”

Songbird, owned by the late Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm, started her career with 11 consecutive victories and retired in 2017 with a record of 13 wins and two seconds from 15 starts. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, she secured Grade I victories at two, three and four and earned $4,692,000.

“In her 15 races, it took being a champion to beat Songbird,” said Fox Hill manager Victoria Keith. “She lost, finishing second twice, to Beholder and champion Forever Unbridled.”

Keith described Songbird as a talented but laid-back filly.

“You often hear that great racehorses have a fiery side and this contributes to them being a great race horse,” she said. “You particularly hear this about speed horses. Songbird was a speed horse but she had no fiery side. She's a sweet, loving and gentle horse.”

Keith and Porter's widow, Betsy, accepted Songbird's plaque.

“We are so pleased that Songbird is being inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Keith said. “We consider it not only an honor for Songbird, but also for Rick Porter and Fox Hill Farm. It is bittersweet because we dearly wish that it was Rick on the stage today.”

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Unusually Bred Into Mischief Filly Debuts at Sapporo

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Sunday running at Sapporo and Niigata Racecourses:

Sunday, August 6, 2023
5th-SAP, ¥13,720,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800mT
MISS MATENRO (f, 2, Into Mischief–Miss Panthere {Jpn}, by Daiwa Major {Jpn}) is the first foal for her dam, who carried the silks of owner and breeder Chiyono Terada to victory in Group 2 company in Japan in 2018, where she had future Horse of the Year Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) back in third. Miss Panthere continues to reside in Kentucky, where she has since foaled a full-brother to Miss Matenro and a colt by Authentic before visiting Flightline this year. Norihiro Yokoyama rode Miss Panthere to her Group 2 win and has the call on Miss Matenro. Into Mischief is the sire of 22 winners from 24 Japanese starters. B-Chiyono Terada (KY)

6th-NII, ¥13,720,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m
HAPPY IMAGE (JPN) (f, 2, Good Magic–Sassy Image, by Broken Vow) is out of a winner of the GI Humana Distaff S. and GI Princess Rooney H. and was purchased in utero by Big Red Farm for $110,000 at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale. The Apr. 30 foal is related to three winners from five to race, including the 15-time winner V J Day (War Front) and is bred on a cross over Fappiano-line dams that has resulted in Grade II-winning juveniles Vegas Magic and Dubyuhnell. B-Big Red Farm

11th-NII, Leopard S.-G3, ¥76,000,000 ($534k), 3yo, 1800m
MYSTIC LORE (c, 3, Arrogate–Folklore, by Tiznow) was beaten narrowly on career debut on turf back in February, but broke his maiden in fine fashion on the dirt the following month and tacked on the equivalent of a first-level allowance when last seen June 24 (see below, SC 7). Having been given a standby invitation for last month's Japan Dirt Derby, the $500,000 Keeneland September purchase finds a good spot here for his stakes debut. The son of 2005 champion 2-year-old filly Foklore boasts a big pedigree, as Folklore's half-sister Rhodochrosite (Unbridled's Song) produced Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), whose first-crop progeny flew off the shelf at last month's JHRA Foal Sale. Another half-sister to Folklore, GSP Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality), supplied 'TDN Rising Star' and two-time Eclipse Award winner Essential Quality (Tapit). Leading rider Yuga Kawada has the call. B-Lewis Thoroughbred Breeding LLC (KY)

 

 

 

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Nakatani Headlines 2023 Hall of Fame Class

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – At the very least, Aug. 4 will always be a mighty important day in jockey Corey Nakatani's life. For good and bad reasons, but memorable nonetheless.

Exactly, five years after he earned his final victory then suffered career-ending injuries in a spill at Del Mar, Nakatani will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame on Friday morning at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion. The event, which is open to the public, begins at 10:30 a.m.

Nakatani, 52, is a member of the Class of 2023 elected in the contemporary category with three champion horses all in their first year of eligibility: Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) and Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro). Jockey Fernando Toro was elected by the Historic Review Committee. The Pillars of the Turf honorees are John Hanes II, Leonard Jerome, and Stella F. Thayer.

During his freshman year in high school, Nakatani made a visit to Santa Anita Park with his father and discovered the sport that would become his life's work. Soon after, he found a job working around horses, went to jockey school and began building toward a career as a jockey. He made his professional debut at the Stockton Fair in June 1988 at the age of 17, had a couple of mounts at Del Mar and headed south to Aqua Caliente in Mexico, where he picked up his first victory.

In January 1989, Nakatani started riding at Santa Anita and grew into a top rider on the Southern California circuit, winning 10 titles. He won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534. Nakatani's resume is topped by 341 graded stakes victories, including 10 in Breeders' Cup races. He ranks No. 14 in career earnings and 11 times finished in the top 10 of annual earnings nationally. The Covina, California native ranks in the top 10 in overall wins and stakes wins at both Santa Anita and Del Mar.

The long list of the accomplishments earned Nakatani a spot in the Hall of Fame, where he will take his place among racing's all-time greats.

“I'm excited about it,” he said. “Obviously, you want to thank a lot of people. There's a lot of trainers you were involved with, but at the end of the day it's for your family. There was a lot of the time you were away from them, at work riding races.

“It's all glamorous and everything, but it's a lot of hard work out there. Dreams come true. If you work hard enough and you're able to be successful at it, then being in the Hall of Fame is once in a lifetime.”

Though he had no background in the sport, Nakatani was the ideal size for be a jockey–he said he weighed 89 pounds as a freshman wrestler–was very athletic and fiercely competitive. Those attributes helped him find success competing against a slew of Hall of Fame riders based in Southern California. He said he went to school on what that gifted group of riders did every day and said Laffit Pincay, Jr. was his idol and mentor.

“To me, he's the best strongest finisher on a horse,” Nakatani said. “When I when I was learning to ride I took a little bit from Laffit, a little bit of Eddie D. [Delahoussaye], a little bit of Chris McCarron, a little bit of Gary Stevens, and [Bill] Shoemaker and put it into one rider. That's the way my mentality was.”

Toro, 82, was a top rider in his native Chile before moving to California in 1966. He retired in 1990 with North America totals of 3,555 victories and purse earnings of $56,299,765. He won 80 graded stakes. At the time of his retirement, he was sixth in stakes wins at Del Mar, eighth at Hollywood Park and tied for eighth at Santa Anita.

Though based in Southern California, Toro won major races all over the United States and in Canada. In Nov. 1983, Toro took over as the regular rider of Royal Heroine for British-born, California-based  trainer John Gosden. A Hall of Fame inductee in 2022, Royal Heroine flourished with Toro up, winning a division of the Hollywood Derby, the Inglewood, the Beverly Hills Handicap, the inaugural Breeders' Cup Mile, and the Matriarch.

Arrogate seized national and international attention on Aug. 27, 2016 when he won the GI Travers S. at Saratoga–his first graded-stakes start–by 13 1/2 lengths with a track-record time of 1:59.36. The Bob Baffert trainee went from that Travers triumph to a half-length victory over California Chrome in a memorable GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Juddmonte colt easily won the inaugural running of the GI Pegasus World Cup in January 2017, over a field that included California Chrome, and the GI Dubai World Cup in March 2017. He retired at the end of the 2017 season with record earnings of $17,422,600.

“I'll always be remembered for training the only two Triple Crown winners since the 1970s,” Baffert said, “but if Arrogate had made it to the track early enough as a 3-year-old there is a very good chance I would have trained a third. Stride for stride, furlong for furlong, from gate to wire, Arrogate was every bit as good as American Pharaoh and Justify.

In the Dubai World Cup, Arrogate extended his winning streak to seven despite a terrible start that left him at the back of the field of 14. Though Arrogate typically used his speed early in his races, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith did not panic and gave the colt a patient ride. He made his way into contention and managed to beat Gun Runner by 2 1/4 lengths.

Baffert, a 2009 Hall of Fame inductee, called it the “greatest performance of any horse I ever trained.”

Arrogate was the 3-year-old male Eclipse Award winner and was named the Longines World's Best Racehorse of 2016.

California Chrome, a two-time Horse of the Year, had a great story to go with his remarkable success on the track. The California-bred rose from modest beginnings in state-bred company as a 2-year-old in 2013 to win the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness for trainer Art Sherman. He fell short of the Triple Crown sweep with a fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. In 2015, he was second in the Dubai World Cup. Healthy and in top form again in 2016, he won the Dubai World Cup, the GI Pacific Classic and the GI Awesome Again.

When California Chrome was retired after the Pegasus World Cup, he had two divisional titles to go with his pair of Horse of the Year awards, was a Grade I winner on dirt and turf, had 16 wins in 27 starts and earnings of $14,752,650.

Songbird was never worse than second in 15 starts for Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms. She was good from the start of her 2-year-old season in July 2015, and won 11-consecutive races. Among those scores were Grade I wins in the Del Mar Debutante, the Chandelier, the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Santa Anita Oaks, the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama. Her streak ended in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Distaff where she lost by a nose to Beholder–elected to the Hall of Fame last year–in an epic showdown.

Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Songbird was a two-time Eclipse Award winner who earned $4,692,00 on the track.

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