Tag: Javier Castellano

Unified Alliance ‘Rains’ In Off-Turf Coronation Cup

Trainer Tom Morley admitted that he was doing a bit of a rain dance Thursday, and his prayers were answered when Friday's Coronation Cup was washed onto the Saratoga main track. Scratched down to a field of just four sophomore fillies, Unified Alliance (Unified) took full advantage while making her first start for Morley and the in-form Javier Castellano.

Nicely into stride from gate three, the dark bay filly had early company to her inside in the form of Anna's Arabesque (Munnings), as odds-on L Street Lady (Munnings)–the lone main-track-only entrant–chased that pair from third. Unified Alliance cut the corner into the stretch and kept finding up front en route to an ultimately comfortable first black-type success.

Unified Alliance made the first six starts of her career for John Servis, winning her maiden at first asking at Parx last December before adding a romping 10 1/4-length allowance score in Bensalem Apr. 3. A distant last of four in the rained-off Memories of Silver S. at Aqueduct Apr. 29, she led into the final furlong of the June 11 Jersey Girl S. at Belmont, but was outfinished by L Street Lady and settled for second.

“We were sitting at the table with claps of thunder and bolts of lightning [last night], and I said, 'I could really do with this going on for four more hours just to really knock it on the head,'” the winning trainer said. “It didn't last four hours, but we got enough [rain]. She actually worked really, really well on the grass at Belmont, so we were definitely going to roll the dice and see if she could [run on] turf today, but obviously it cut up into an easier race when it came off.”

The fourth stakes winner for her Lane's End-based sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}), Unified Alliance is the only of her dam's foals to race and hails from the female family of GISW A. P. Adventure (A.P. Indy). Star Power did not produce a foal in any of the last three years and was bred to McKinzie this season. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

CORONATION CUP S., $139,500, Saratoga, 7-14, 3yo, f, 5 1/2f (off turf), 1:03.80, ft.
1–UNIFIED ALLIANCE, 120, f, 3, by Unified
1st Dam: Star Power, by Speightstown
2nd Dam: Sequel, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Nataliano, by Fappiano
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($170,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $60,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Reagan Jack Racing; B-Calvin & Shane Crain (KY); T-Thomas Morley; J-Javier Castellano. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 7-3-2-1, $193,500.
2–Anna's Arabesque, 118, f, 3, Munnings–Classy Music, by Maclean's Music. ($220,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Rigney Racing, LLC; B-Patrick Waresk (KY); T-Philip A Bauer. $30,000.
3–L Street Lady, 122, f, 3, Munnings–Lady Gayle, by Scat Daddy. ($125,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL). O-Madaket Stables LLC; B-T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC (KY); T-Brittany T Russell. $18,000.
Margins: 1HF, 6 3/4, 5 3/4. Odds: 2.75, 2.25, 0.95.
Also Ran: Wildhawk. Scratched: Bosserati, Love Appeals, Love Reigns (Ire), My Sweet Affair, Violet Gibson (Ire).

 

 

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Mage Returns To Work Tab

Mage (Good Magic) recorded his first published workout since winning the GI Kentucky Derby when he breezed five furlongs in 1:07.20 at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington Friday morning. His connections have yet to decide on his next start.

“We gave him 17 days without a saddle or, obviously, going to the track, so he got a really big break,” said co-owner Ramiro Restrepo. “He was kind of getting a bit bored and wanting to do something so it was time to get him rolling. He has been back on the track for a little under two weeks now. This was his first leg-stretcher. It was a little wake up call. This was not a matter of tightening the screws. It was more like his first day back in the gym.”

Restrepo said that no one should read too much into how slow the time of the work was.

“He had a little over two weeks of doing absolutely nothing and kind of laying out,” he said. “The last thing you would want is to rip him out of the gate. It was more of a strong gallop that was recorded as a breeze. It was the first work back, so the time has nothing to do with it.  It was to show we're back in workout mode. We've never cared about his times in works. There's a bigger objective here than the time of a workout. You don't get prize money or trophies for winning in the mornings. It's just a fitness thing to get him up and at them.”

Restrepo said that three options are being discussed regarding where Mage will run next. They are the GI Haskell S., the GII Jim Dandy S. or the GI Travers.

“Whether we point him to the Jim Dandy, the Haskell or go straight to the Travers, there's a 33 percent chance with all three,” he said. “It's going to be a matter of seeing how he's doing once we get him on a steady work pattern. The No. 1 goal is to make it to the Travers. Bar none, the Travers is the big show for us. He's obviously proven at the mile and a quarter. He'll be shipping to Saratoga sooner rather than later.”

Also, yet to be resolved is what Javier Castellano will do in the event that Mage and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) show up in the same race. If both stay healthy, they will likely face each other sometime this summer, perhaps in the Travers.

“So many things can happen and we are quite a ways away from when he races again, so we haven't even broached the subject with Javier regarding what his decision might be or what his thoughts are,” Restrepo said. “Let's not put the cart before the horse. Let's get him in race shape and then we will start having those discussions with Javier.”

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The Week in Review: Triple Crown, Let’s Talk…

Well, Triple Crown, now that the book has been closed on your 2023 campaign, it's time for your annual performance review.

Yes, I realize you're not a tangible, actual entity, and that your entire being is really just a concept based around the sequence of three historic horse races conducted over a five-week span every spring. As such, perhaps you think you're above a little constructive criticism. But we're living in a new era of accountability and I know you want to do your part to remain the focal point on which our sport so vitally depends. So let's begin…

For starters, thanks for saving the best performance for last. We all know you weren't technically “on the clock” this year, because no Triple Crown sweep was on the line this past Saturday.

Sure, there's always tremendous appeal in getting to potentially witness a once-in-a-generation horse run the Grade I table in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness S., and Belmont S. But some of the better overall experiences on Belmont Park's big day have been years in which no Triple Crown sweep was up for grabs. Although a 50,000 attendance cap would have been imposed either way, allowing 48,089 racegoers to enjoy a comparatively uncrowded afternoon of formful stakes action and big-event socialization without having to endure excruciatingly long lines for betting and basic amenities is always a plus.

The Belmont undercard stakes this year touched on just the right mix of intriguing and, at times, inspirational story lines. The distaff division is enjoying a nice run right now, anchored by a reliable cast of well-matched characters, with Clairiere (Curlin) executing an impeccably timed late run to win the GI Ogden Phipps S. for the second consecutive year. Caravel (Mizzen Mast), a Pennsylvania-bred mare with a penchant for unleashing triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures when sprinting on the turf against males, did so again on Saturday, extending her winning spree to five with a speed-centric victory in the GI Jaipur S. And although it hardly seems fair to keep relegating fan-fave Cody's Wish (Curlin) to undercard status when he's an A-list headliner in his own right, this deep closer again uncorked a loop-the-group move that wowed the crowd (112 Beyer!) and left a decent field reeling in the GI Metropolitan H., proving he currently has no peer in the dirt mile division while winning for the sixth straight time.

The crowning achievement, of course, was the gutsy score by 7-1 upsetter Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the Belmont S., propelling his conditioner, Jena Antonucci, into the history books as the first woman trainer of a Triple Crown race winner.

The “Test of a Champion' win by the underdog gray (who cost just $35,000 as a yearling) also capped a nimble feat of Triple Crown jockeying by Javier Castellano, who pulled off the unusual double of winning the Derby with Mage (Good Magic), and then the Belmont with Arcangelo after Mage ran third in the Preakness and bypassed the Belmont.

Despite being elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017, Derby and Belmont wins had eluded Castellano up until this season. We can now look forward to the drama of Castellano possibly having to choose between riding either Mage or Arcangelo should the Derby and Belmont winners cross paths later on this summer, perhaps in the GI Travers S. Regardless of which one he opts for, it's a nice problem to ponder.

But please, Triple Crown, in future years, spare us the “smoke show” that preceded this year's Belmont Stakes Day, forcing the cancellation of Thursday's racing at Belmont Park and almost putting the big day in doubt until the air cleared.

For certain, dangerous air quality because of forest fires hundreds of miles away is out of your direct control. But the unhealthy haze and apocalyptic-looking yellow skies did happen on your watch, Triple Crown, and like it or not, the sport is going to have to reckon with–and have contingency plans for–similar adverse environmental circumstances down the road. Get ready for a summer of becoming just as familiar with the abbreviation AQI (air quality index) as you are with AQU (Aqueduct).

Winding the watch back five weeks, what stands out is how the entire complexion of the Triple Crown pivoted on the morning of the Derby, when morning-line favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) was compelled to scratch because of a right front foot bruise. That news overshadowed the defection of not one, but three top California-based contenders–Practical Move (Practical Joke), Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Skinner (Curlin)–because they had all spiked fevers earlier in the week.

And although the 15-1 victory by the small-framed Mage had a very likeable “little horse that could” vibe about it, the industry never got to capitalize on that story line because of the sobering and oppressive news of the 12 Thoroughbred deaths at Churchill Downs during the early portion of the Derby meet, a crisis that to this point has not been shown to have any exact or common cause.

Mage managed to win the first leg of the Triple Crown in just lifetime start number four. That's great for the colt and his connections, but not necessarily ideal in terms of adding to the current “less is more” trend of racing top-level sophomores so sparingly. Too many horses are being aimed for the Triple Crown with only two races between the first Saturday in November and the first Saturday in May, diminishing the value of being able to enjoy and assess emerging stars.

Underscoring how the Derby itself is devolving into a be-all/end-all, one-shot endeavor at the expense of the Triple Crown race that follows it, for the first time in 75 years, Mage was the only horse out of the Derby to enter the Preakness. That hadn't happened since 1948, when Citation  scared off a large portion of his competition en route to his Triple Crown sweep. Mage didn't so much “scare off” his rivals this year as the connections of those horses hewed to the increasingly standard script that calls for post-Louisville bubble wrap and rest instead of crab cakes and robust competition in Baltimore.

As a result, the Preakness this year lured only seven to the entry box. Two of them were Maryland-based longshots and two others were taking a shot chiefly because they had earned paid-for starting berths by winning minor prep stakes earlier in the year.

National Treasure (Quality Road) ended up sleep-walking the Preakness field on the front end. His slow-paced victory was not an artistic success, and the lack of depth in the middle jewel did spur the predictable assortment of columns and social media opinionizing advocating for restructuring the Triple Crown series to better align with the realities of race-spacing.

While fiddling with the Triple Crown schedule remains more of a thought experiment than an actual movement that has traction, the sport is most certainly going to have to brace for a near-term tradition jolt in time for the 2025 Belmont S.

After the 2024 edition, Belmont Park will undergo its projected $455-million teardown and rebuild, and the New York Racing Association will have to decide where to stage the concluding jewel of the series in what is expected to be a one-year interim until the reimagined version of Belmont Park opens.

Moving the Belmont S. to Aqueduct–like during 1963 through 1967, when the current version of Belmont was under construction–is an option. But heading upstate to Saratoga Race Course would also be a tantalizing tweak to tradition.

Are you up for it, Triple Crown?

This concludes your annual performance review. We'll score it a C for both the Derby and the Preakness this year. The Belmont rates an A-minus.

In terms of the overall series, we'll call it a “work in progress.” That's because the sport can always benefit by leaving room for–and expecting–Triple Crown improvement.

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Arcangelo Makes History For Antonucci In the Belmont

ELMONT, NY – There wasn't a Triple Crown on the line in Saturday's 155th renewal of the GI Belmont S., but the sunsplashed crowd of 48,089 still witnessed a piece of history.

Trainer Jena Antonucci became the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when the lightly raced Arcangelo (Arrogate) delivered a decisive victory at 7-1 in the 1 1/2-mile Classic. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to champion Forte (Violence), favored at 2-1, who nosed out his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Tapit Trice (Tapit) for second.

A former equine veterinary assistant and employee of Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas before going out on her own in 2010, the 47-year-old's only other graded stakes winner prior to Arcangelo's win in the GIII Peter Pan S. was Doctor J Dub (Sharp Humor), winner of the GIII Turf Monster in 2016.

“It's the horse and I am so grateful,” said an emotional Antonucci while fighting off tears in the post-race press conference. “I will forever be indebted to his honesty to us, his heart, and he is why you get up seven days a week. I didn't get a lot of sleep the last few nights, I'm not going to lie. I'm so grateful.”

After working his magic aboard Mage (Good Magic) for a much-deserved first GI Kentucky Derby win on the first Saturday in May, jockey Javier Castellano pulled off another masterpiece in the irons to capture his first career Belmont victory.

“This is a dream come true,” said Castellano, who also has a pair of Preakness wins on his Hall of Fame plaque. “To win two Triple Crown races in the same year, it's amazing. Everything worked out good. There's always something to shoot for, but I'm just going to keep working hard. But this is so special.”

Drawn on the inside in post three, Arcangelo was hard held in third as the rail-drawn 20-1 longshot Tapit Shoes (Tapit) and GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road) mixed it up on the front end through an opening quarter in a sharp :23.63.

National Treasure went on with it and led the field of nine up the mighty Belmont backstretch as Arcangelo dropped back to sixth through a half mile in :47.69. Locked and loaded just behind the leaders through six furlongs in 1:12.56, Arcangelo snuck up along the rail rounding the far turn and reached even terms with National Treasure a quarter of a mile from home.

Arcangelo began to separate himself from the field as they straightened and led by 3 1/2 lengths at the stretch call. Despite some right-handed reminders by Castellano down the lane, the shadow-rolled Arcangelo wandered some in deep stretch, but was never seriously threatened by the aforementioned rallying Pletcher duo to bring home the blanket of white carnations.

“He's just figuring it all out,” Antonucci said. “He's just a big kid. Javier [Castellano] did such a great job. There were a lot of horses taking up in the first turn and he sorted that out and got it together and on the backside made his way up the rail. We knew we wanted to get a little jump on them. We weren't even worried about the distance. His cruising speed is just stupid, stupid fast.”

Arcangelo becomes the first Peter Pan winner since Tonalist (2014) to double up in the Belmont. He also joins A.P. Indy (1992) and Coastal (1979) to pull off the double.

An absolute steal for $35,000 by Jon Ebbert's Blue Rose Farm at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling sale, Arcangelo was a debut second sprinting in the Gulfstream slop Dec. 17. The gray earned his diploma two starts later going a one-turn mile in Hallandale Mar. 18. He was making his two-turn debut in the Belmont following a hard-fought head score in the local prep going 1 1/8 miles. He was a $50,000 late supplement to the Triple Crown series.

Ebbert started his first horse Daydreamin Boy in 2009 at Philadelphia Park and headed to the Belmont with just three career winner's circle photos between his Blue Rose Farm moniker and horses listed under his name. Arcangelo is the first horse that he and Antonucci have teamed up on.

“It's amazing,” Ebbert said. “What an amazing ride. I'm so proud of the horse. He's an amazing horse. He's all heart. We knew he had it in him. Javier rode him perfectly and Jena is an amazing trainer. I'm so lucky to find her. The rest is history.”

Pedigree Notes:

Arcangelo becomes the fifth Grade I winner for the gone-too-soon Arrogate, who was humanely euthanized after suffering from an undetermined illness in June 2020.

Tapit, the king of the Belmont with four winners, is the broodmare sire of 13 Grade I winners now, including this year's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), who added a thrilling victory in Friday's GI Acorn S., and Saturday's GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. winner and last year's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish (Curlin).

Arcangelo is the most recent produce from the unraced Modeling, a $2.85-milllion purchase by Don Alberto Corp. at the 2014 KEENOV sale, who was barren in 2023 (bred to McKinzie and Curlin). Modeling is a half-sister to GISW Streaming (Smart Strike).

Arcangelo's third dam is the legendary broodmare Better Than Honour, who has produced Belmont winners Jazil and Rags to Riches.

What They're Saying…

“A mile and a half wasn't far enough [laughs]. I'm super proud of both horses. I knew we were asking a lot coming off the 10-week layoff [with Forte]. He got shuffled back a little bit and once he got him outside in the clear, he was still making impact at the end, but he just ran out of time getting there.

Tapit Trice got the trip we wanted. He got out in the clear and made that move and then he kept steadily grinding away. I was super happy with both efforts.” —Todd Pletcher, trainer of runner-up Forte and third-place finisher Tapit Trice

“I got a good trip. I just don't think we were good enough today. Hit Show did awesome. He broke good, put me in a great position going into the turn. From there until the wire, he gave me his all.” —Manny Franco, jockey of fourth-place finisher Hit Show

“It was an Arrogate. What did they say about Arrogate when he won [the Travers]? Arrogate steals the show. I'm so happy for her [Jena]. Johnny [Velazquez] said he could never turn him off today. He was really tense. He never got a chance to relax. He never shut it down. But he ran hard. He gave us a little bit of a thrill turning for home, but he didn't relax. He couldn't get him to turn off. He was on the bit the whole way.” —Bob Baffert, trainer of sixth-place National Treasure

Belmont Stakes Day Generates Record Handle for Non-Triple Crown Year…

Saturday's blockbuster Belmont S. Day card generated all-sources handle of $118,283,455, which is a NYRA record for a non-Triple Crown year. The 2023 all-sources handle figure is an increase of more than five percent over the previous non-Triple Crown record of $112,725,278, which was set in 2021. On-track handle for the 13-race card, which included six Grade I races among nine total stakes, was $10,657,332. All-sources handle for the Belmont S. was $56,533,820. Following the construction of UBS Arena, and prior to the renovation of Belmont Park set to begin in 2024, capacity at the facility is 50,000.

Saturday, Belmont Park
BELMONT S. PRESENTED BY NYRA BETS-GI, $1,500,000, Belmont, 6-10, 3yo, 1 1/2m, 2:29.23, ft.
1–ARCANGELO, 126, r, 3, by Arrogate
            1st Dam: Modeling, by Tapit
            2nd Dam: Teeming, by Storm Cat
            3rd Dam: Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($35,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Blue Rose
Farm; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Jena M. Antonucci;
J-Javier Castellano. $900,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0,
$1,067,400. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Forte, 126, c, 3, Violence–Queen Caroline, by Blame.
'TDN Rising Star'. ($80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21
KEESEP). O-Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable; B-South Gate
Farm (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $270,000.
3–Tapit Trice, 126, c, 3, Tapit–Danzatrice, by Dunkirk.
'TDN Rising Star'. ($1,300,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Whisper Hill
Farm, LLC and Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck); B-Gainesway
Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $150,000.
Margins: 1HF, NO, 3/4. Odds: 7.90, 2.25, 5.30.
Also Ran: Angel of Empire-(DH), Hit Show-(DH), National Treasure, Il Miracolo, Red Route One, Tapit Shoes.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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