Tag: Forte

A Jim Dandy Of A Graded Stakes Weekend

Equine or human, history is always about the six degrees of someone in racing's world. For instance, at 100-1 Jim Dandy beat Triple Crown champion Gallant Fox in the 1930 edition of the Travers S., which only featured four entries total.

The horse who set up the longshot by engaging in a speed duel with the favorite over the mud was Whichone, a colt owned by Harry Payne Whitney (yes, that important family). And what other Thoroughbred did Whitney own? Well, that would be Upset, who did just that, when he handed the great Man o' War his only career loss. And that is a minor example of a nexus.

As part of the Saratoga weekend card, it seems fitting that Saturday's GII Jim Dandy S. is the main prep for next month's GI Travers S. Horse racing, like life, always reflects irony of some type.

In this year's edition, Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) isn't going to be 100-1. However, compared to the experience of GIII Matt Winn S. victor and 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner), Eclipse champion 2-year-old and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), who will be wearing first-time blinkers, Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of the GIII Withers S. and second in the GII Wood Memorial S., and GI Arkansas Derby star and GI Kentucky Derby third Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), the 3-year-old colt has something to prove after running second last time out in the GIII Dwyer S. July 1 at Belmont Park. The Brad Cox trainee passed the eye test in his debut at Keeneland in April and against allowance company May 21 at Churchill Downs.

Not to be missed on the Saratoga Saturday card is another race with historical connections in spades. This year's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. will feature a rematch from February's G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia in which the reigning Eclipse champion dirt sprinter and GISW Elite Power (Curlin) stepped away as GISW Gunite (Gun Runner) gave chase for second. The $900,000 Keeneland September buy built on that win with another impressive display in the GII True North S.

Elite Power | Sarah Andrew

Elite Power worked a half mile alone in :51.22 Sunday over the Oklahoma training track in a breeze that Mott indicated was similar to the chestnut's half-mile work in :51.11 on Oct. 28 over the same surface ahead of his Breeders' Cup victory. “That's him by himself,” Mott said. “He's run well off of those kind of works right before his races. He did that in Saudi. He was working :51 before he won the Breeders' Cup. He wouldn't wow anyone when he's working by himself.”

Looking elsewhere on Saturday in North America, Monmouth Park will card its own Oaks. The Grade III includes Promiseher America (American Pharoah) from Ray Handal's stable and Occult (Into Mischief), who was last seen running third to MGISW Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) in the GI Acorn S. on the Belmont S. undercard.

In the wake of cancellations due to heat the past couple of days, Woodbine Racetrack will hope to run the GII Seagram Cup for 3-year-olds and up. Tyson (Tapit) will garner much attention since the 4-year-old gray colt won the GIII Dominion Day S. last time out for trainer Josie Carroll.

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will have plenty of action to contribute as their program includes the GII San Diego H. and the GI Bing Crosby S., which offers a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' voucher for the GI BC Qatar Racing Sprint.

Both Del Mar races sport field sizes of 10-plus. The San Diego includes MGISW Defunded (Dialed In), who won Santa Anita's GI Gold Cup May 29 and will carry the most weight here at 125. With 12 hopefuls entered for the Bing Crosby, Anarchist (Distorted Humor) returns to California after running second to Elite Power in the GII True North S. The 4-year-old colt will face some veteran runners in G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen hero Sibelius (Not This Time) and MGISW and '21 winner Dr. Schivel (Violence).

Rebel's Romance works at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew

Shifting to Sunday, not to be missed on the stakes slate are a pair of Grade IIs for 3-year-olds and up over the turf. Saratoga's Bowling Green S. has enticed GI Breeders' Cup Turf conqueror Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) for trainer Charlie Appleby. Last seen running a well-beaten seventh in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, the 5-year-old gelding will look to get his second half of his season off on the right foot.

“He's a well-traveled horse; Germany, Keeneland, England and Dubai,” said Appleby's traveling assistant Chris Connett. “He's traveled this trip pretty well and he's settled in good shape. He's a typical Dubawi, he's got better with age. He's a big horse that's really grown into his frame. Hopefully, we'll get to see him at his best on Sunday.”

Count Again | Horsephotos

Meanwhile the Eddie Read S. at Del Mar includes four entries from Phil D'Amato's shedrow, including MGISW Count Again (Awesome Again), winner last time out of the GI Shoemaker Mile S. May 30 at Santa Anita Park, and MGSW Balnikov (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}), who is looking to bounce back after finishing eighth in that same race. The competitive Leo Powell trainee and MGSW Dicey Mo Chara (GB) (Adaay {Ire}) goes out for a barn that won last weekend's GII San Clemente S. The 5-year-old gelding's last start yielded a finished third-place finish at Santa Anita May 13 in the GIII San Luis Rey S.

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Blinkers On For Forte

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's  Forte (Violence) worked in blinkers Saturday morning at Saratoga Race Course and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said the colt will have them on in the GII Jim Dandy on July 29.

“We just want to get him a little bit more locked in,” he said.

Pletcher described the small blinker is a French cup with some holes in it.

Under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., Forte, who worked in company with MGSW Emmanuel, breezed a half-mile on the main track in :50. Emmanuel remains on target for the Aug. 12 GI Fourstardave H.

Pletcher said he was happy with Forte's work.

“I thought he went really well,” he said.  “He was enjoying himself out there.”

It was Forte's second breeze this summer at Saratoga after covering a half-mile in :48.90 July 14.

“I feel like he lost focus a little bit in the [GI] Florida Derby in the middle of the turn and in the [GI] Belmont. It might have cost him the Belmont,” Pletcher said.

He continued, “Irad and I had a conversation after that work about possibly trying some blinkers on him. We galloped him in them one day this week and it seemed like that went fine. Irad felt like he was a little more focused on what he was asking him to do rather than what the horse next to him was doing. If we were going to try an equipment change, we felt like the Jim Dandy would be the race to do it in and not wait until the Travers if we felt we needed to make a change.”

Forte has won six of eight career starts and was the 2-year-old male champion last year after compiling consecutive Grade I victories in the Hopeful, the Breeders' Futurity and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

He opened his 2023 campaign with a 4 1/2-length victory in the GI Fountain of Youth. In the Florida Derby he made a huge rally in the stretch to overtake Mage (Good Magic) and win by one length. Forte, the morning-line favorite, was scratched from the Kentucky Derby the morning of the race because of a bruised foot. He was second in the Belmont, 1 1/2 lengths behind Arcangelo (Arrogate).

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Antonucci ‘Being Patient’ with Belmont Winner Arcangelo

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – While many of the horses that Arcangelo (Arrogate) will face in the GI Travers S. on Aug. 26 are competing this weekend and next, trainer Jena Antonucci is midway through a deliberate, no-race prep program for her GI Belmont S. winner.

Antonucci and her pups Lucy and Mando completed the second leg of their drive from Ocala, Fla. to Saratoga Springs Friday morning in time to see Arcangelo gallop on the main track and frolic for a bit in the round pen near her barn before his bath. It was another quiet day on the way to the $1.25 million Travers, a race that could determine the 3-year-old male title.

After Arcangelo provided Antonucci with the biggest victory of her career, she decided to train the colt owned by Jon Ebbert's Blue Rose Farm up to the Travers. He has been in Saratoga since the beginning of July and has worked twice. The next breeze will take place in the coming week, though it not yet scheduled. Antonucci said his timed works are typically about 10 days apart.

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and the Belmont third-place finisher Tapit Trice (Tapit) are tuning up for the Travers Saturday in the GI Haskell S. at Monmouth Park. Preakness runner-up Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) was third behind Scotland (Good Magic) in the Curlin S. Friday at Saratoga. On July 29, Belmont runner-up Forte (Violence) is scheduled to be the headliner in the GII Jim Dandy S.

“Some fun racing coming up,” Antonucci said. “I'm looking forward to watching some good horse races.”

Arcangelo under Javier Castellano on Monday | Sarah Andrew

Antonucci said that the Travers is part of a long-range route for the gray colt that Ebbert purchased as a Keeneland September yearling for $35,000.

“Honestly, we really are hoping to have a nice 4-year-old year with him,” she said. “I know I'm getting quite a few bullets for being just very transparent about that. His owner, when he bought this horse–people laugh, but they kind of get it now–he's like 'I'm buying this horse because I want to focus on his 2024 Breeders' Cup.' And I'm like, 'Well, this horse isn't going to keep his feet on the ground until then, so we have to have another plan, too.'”

Arcangelo broke his maiden on March 18 at Gulfstream in his third career start, won the GIII Peter Pan at Belmont on May 13 and on June 10 secured Antonucci a permanent place in racing history: the first woman to win the Belmont.

Six weeks after the Belmont and five weeks from the Travers, Antonucci is pleased with how Arcangelo looks and acts.

“We're not ducking races,” she said. “It's just being patient with a horse to grow up, let him grow up. He has had his entire career spaced out. His closest races were the Peter Pan to the Belmont. It's something that he's quite used to and quite fine with. It's just giving him his breathing room. You don't need to force stuff with him.”

Antonucci said the Travers is the current focus and did not want to talk about where she might run the colt after Saratoga. She said she does not know which jockey she will give a leg up to for the Travers since Javier Castellano won the Derby with Mage and the Belmont on Arcangelo.

“It's nothing I can control,” she said. “The rider thing is going to work out. Someone will hang on to him. I just feel that in life you can't stress about things that you can't control. I can't control that. We'll continue to do us and it will work out. It always does.”

Antonucci has been around horses and racing throughout her life and saddled her first starter in 2010. She has been racing at Saratoga since 2012. Winning the Belmont with Arcangelo boosted her profile this summer. She smiled and acknowledged that things have been different since that victory.

“If you would have scripted, 'You're going to be the first woman to win the Belmont Stakes. And when you win that this is what it means,' It still doesn't cover the layering of how it's reached past our sport, and what it means to people,” she said. “That part, I'm extremely grateful for an immense amount of gratitude from people that give that to us, and finally, looked at our sport, maybe that is not like the worst thing on the planet.

“The other part that was interesting is just kind of how so many horsemen have actually been extremely gracious, which is in a sport where we tend to eat each other alive.”

Antonucci said she has enjoyed the countless kind words from people in and out of racing, but said the Belmont success was about the horse, not her.

“I can't do this without all of us, without that horse, and I am extremely aware of that,” she said. “So, it is his story that I happen to hang on to his tail for. It will continue to be his story and his owner's story. My job is to steward that. I understand logically that, but it's his journey that I'm trying to stay out of the way of.”

Arcangelo has settled in well at Saratoga, Antonucci said, and enjoys his time in the round pen, where can roll in the dirt, and the opportunity to be out of his stall.

“He loves it here,” she said. “He was here last summer, so this was probably just homecoming for him really. Our routine is very straightforward and boring, as far as every day. He does [the round pen] a couple times a day. I love being over here because you can go for big, long walks and that suits this horse, always has.

“He really has really taken all the attention well, where he thinks it's kind of cool. He knows where cameras are. He knows where people are.  You'll see him just identify it. That's a part that you can't teach them. They either have that or they don't. They either fold from it or thrive in it. I'm super grateful that he's thriving. It makes my life a little easier.”

Noting that Arcangelo is a mid-May foal, Antonucci said since he has grown since the Belmont it makes sense not to push him this summer.

“He's precocious and has speed,” she said. “Obviously, Arrogate was extremely precocious with a high cruising speed, so I feel very blessed that he has that. I think when you are managing those things, you look at it eyes wide open. You have a horse that's showing a lot of talent that has a lot of speed and he's still a young, maturing frame. We would be absolutely stupid to go in the well, 100 times on him and not let him find his space and grow up and keep putting it all together.

“I give Jon a ton of credit on this. He has been absolutely 'Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Wait. We're fine. We'll take our time. Nope. Okay.'  My job is to lay out the options. Here's X road maps. Here's how we're going to get to each one of these. It's just giving this horse the space that he needs, right? It works in our favor to have a cool horse the rest of this year and hopefully into next year.”

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Forte Works Towards Jim Dandy; Becky’s Joker To Spinaway

Reigning Champion 2-Year-Old colt Forte (Violence) logged his first breeze of the summer at Saratoga Race Course when covering a half-mile in :48.90 seconds over the Oklahoma dirt training track Friday with regular jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. up for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The colt worked in company with graded stakes-winner Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) in preparation for the GII Jim Dandy July 29 at the Spa.

“He jumped on the bridle a little early, so I kind of took a little hold away from the horse,” said Ortiz, Jr. “I allowed him to see the company and go after him. He did.”

Pletcher said he was pleased with the work, which he moved to the training track after heavy rains overnight led to the main track being sealed this morning.

“We fortunately had the option of coming over here on a harrowed track,” said Pletcher. “I thought he worked well. He's a pretty straightforward horse and he does what you ask him to do. I thought he was moving really well and he seemed happy. He usually sits a little off [his workmate] to keep him focused.”

Ortiz, Jr., who regularly works the colt, said Forte was as professional as usual.

“We went 48 and change. On this kind of track, it is really good,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “He is doing good. He looked good, he looked happy, so let's see what happens. The way he does things [excites me]. He knows where the wire is. He loves to win. You can see in the Belmont Stakes, I kept trying with him and he kept coming. He's a fighter.”

“He's obviously a very fit horse and he just ran a mile and a half, so we don't feel like we have to do a lot with him leading up to this race,” continued Pletcher. “We'll probably come back with another maintenance work next week.”

“I think you can see he's a little more laid back. He's an intelligent colt and takes everything in stride, and you can see he's matured that way,” said Pletcher. “Obviously it was a frustrating spring and he ran terrific in the Belmont considering what he was up against. To me, he's a deserving divisional leader, but like everyone else, he's got to continue to win to hold that spot.”

Pletcher also provided an update on 2-year-old filly Wine On Tap (Tapit), who finished an even fourth in Thursday's GIII Schuylerville S. as the post-time favorite.

“She looks good. She was just kind of one-paced down the lane and I thought she recovered and galloped out really well,” said Pletcher. “She is a filly that we've always thought would be better going longer. It was just a little disappointing that she didn't finish up a little better than she did yesterday, but she came back well and looked good this morning.”

Speaking of the Schuylerville, trainer Gary Contessa was still watching replays on Friday morning of Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker (Practical Joke), who launched what appears to be a promising career with a debut victory in the opening-day feature.

The sizable bay stands 16.3 hands high and, “towers over everybody” in the barn according to Contessa, who confirmed the filly for the seven-furlong GI Spinaway S. September 3 at the Spa.

“She came back sound and they tell me she looked great this morning,” said Contessa, who was catching a flight to Nashville to watch his son's baseball tournament. “She honestly can only get better. She's got a lot more left in the tank, so we're looking forward to seeing what she can come up with next. As big as she is, and as big as her stride is, she's going to get better as the distances stretch out. I think seven-eighths is going to hit her right between the eyeballs in the Spinaway.”

Contessa commented on the soundness and the good mind of his newly minted graded stakes winner.

“Knock on wood, she's been very, very sound and very healthy. Everything has gone our way so far, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it continues,” Contessa said. “She's trained as well as any horse I've ever had as a 2-year-old. No matter what you ask her to do, she's push button and picks it up to another gear. Her mind is so good. She had it figured out and she's really a smart filly.”

One can expect Contessa, who has 10 stalls on Saratoga's Oklahoma backstretch, to unleash more promising young talent throughout the meet.

“All these babies are ready to run, so we're going to have a real presence,” Contessa said. “This was a great win to start with and we have even more pretty nice horses awaiting their turn.”

 

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