Tag: Jena Antonucci

Arcangelo Proves The Right ‘Choice’ In Travers 154

In many ways, it was a 'good' problem to have.

Having added a maiden success in the GI Kentucky Derby to his Hall of Fame resume at long last aboard Mage (Good Magic) in early May, jockey Javier Castellano continued a magical ride when teaming with Jena Antonucci to make history in the GI Belmont S. on the progressive Arcangelo (Arrogate), as the connections of Mage turned their collective attention to the second half of the season.

Mage resumed with a very good runner-up effort when reportedly not fully fit for last month's GI TVG.com Haskell S., a steppingstone to the GI Travers S., and a burning question over the next three weeks or so revolved around which colt would be the apple of Castellano's eye come the final Saturday in August. For her part, Antonucci always expressed confidence that Arcangelo would win out at the end of the day, and so it proved, as Luis Saez was named on Mage when Castellano declined to commit in a manner deemed timely enough.

A decision–or non-decision, as the case was–having been made, Castellano was now locked into the son of the late 2016 Travers romper Arrogate for a race he'd won a record six times previously, most recently with Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) in 2018. Deftly handled on an afternoon that was crying out for something–anything, really–resembling a happy ending, Arcangelo proved equal to the task under an A-plus steer from his 45-year-old reinsman.

“I never give up,” Castellano said. “I always work hard for moments like this. I've been up and down and thank God I've been lucky enough to win my seventh Travers. It's like the Super Bowl for Tom Brady. I'm so blessed to have people supporting me. When people support your career, it's great.”

Scotland (Tapit) won the break from his outside draw and led them past the winning post for the first time, as 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), a bit toey in gate one, a keyed-up Mage and GI Preakness S. hero National Treasure (Quality Road) raced handiest to the speed. Arcangelo was fifth of the seven as he hugged the rail, and he was followed by the newly blinkered Disarm (Gun Runner) and, unsurprisingly, the perpetually slow-starting 'Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit).

Castellano made a key move entering the clubhouse turn, allowing Arcangelo to improve inside of Forte, and when National Treasure rolled forward to prompt Scotland, it left the gray colt with the run of the race from the box seat. Traveling beautifully in midpack passing the midway point, Arcangelo needed next to no encouragement to keep pace with the leading group, and, once eased out into the four path, made ominous progress outside the typically one-paced Tapit Trice approaching the five-sixteenths marker. Spun out five or six wide into the stretch as Forte began to wind up with a bit of a run from behind, Arcangelo struck to the front with a furlong and a half to race and stayed on nicely for the victory. Joel Rosario rolled the dice up the fence with Disarm and was in tight inside of a weakening Scotland in upper stretch, then flew home to be runner-up in a case of what might've been. Tapit Trice plugged on for third, ahead of his favored stablemate Forte in fourth. National Treasure, Scotland and a disappointing Mage completed the order of finish.

“I feel like on the backside I had so much horse, I could blow by and open up by 10 and I just took my time and let him develop,” Castellano added. “I put him outside, enjoyed my ride and very lucky and thankful and blessed you guys gave me the opportunity and a lot of confidence to ride the horse and working together every single step. It seems to me he's a super horse. Keep our fingers crossed, keep him sound. All the credit to Jena. She does such a good job with the horses.”

It was another feather in the cap of Antonucci, the first of her sex to train a Belmont winner and the second to saddle a Travers winner, joining Mary Hirsch (1938).

“The significance of accomplishing anything in any gender at the top of any sport or industry is a gift,” she said. “It doesn't come without the team and without every single person on our team. The significance of this is hard to put into words right now.

“Anyone that wants something bad enough, you just have to work your tail off for it. It doesn't matter–man, woman, boy, girl–that's just white noise. If you want it, go fight for it and make it happen for yourself.”

It had been 77 days since the Belmont, but Antonucci had no problem whatsoever bringing Arcangelo into the Travers off works.

“It just never was a layoff in my mind with this horse,” she explained. “I understand the traditionalists of this sport are always going to view gaps in that manner. This horse has had his entire career that way because [owner] Jon [Ebbert] wants this horse to be brought along slowly, correctly and be given the time he needs to grow up. I feel we have respected that with the horse and Jon has respected that in the horse.”

A debut second sprinting in the Gulfstream slop last December, Arcangelo was fourth to future GII Louisiana Derby hero Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) over a mile Jan. 14 before graduating with Castellano at the controls Mar. 18. The ridgling battled hard in taking the May 13 GIII Peter Pan S. to earn his way into the Belmont, and, with Antonucci riding as hard as anyone from the Belmont boxes, easily defeated Forte at Big Sandy.

What once was an open question is no longer, as put succinctly by Forte's part-owner Mike Repole.

“I'm not afraid to say it; that's the top 3-year-old in the country. No doubt.”

Pedigree Notes:

Arcangelo is one of four stakes winners–all graded–from the second of what will be just three crops for the late Arrogate and is one of his five Grade I winners to date. To date, Arcangelo has been represented by a total of nine stakes winners, seven at the graded level. From a family with tremendous depth and influence in the stud book, it is remarkable that he was purchased by Ebbert for just $35,000 at Keeneland September in 2021.

A May 11 foal, Arcangelo is out of the unraced Modeling, a half-sister to GISW Streaming (Smart Strike), SW Treasuring (Smart Strike) and SW Cascading (A.P. Indy), who was acquired by Don Alberto Corporation for $2.85 million in foal to Distorted Humor at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale.

Given the black-type in his third dam, it's hardly surprising Arcangelo might have been cut out for a race like the Belmont. Better Than Honour fetched an eye-watering $14 million from Southern Equine Stables at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, some 17 months after her daughter Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy) duplicated her half-brother Jazil (Seeking the Gold)'s feat in annexing the final leg of the Triple Crown. Better Than Honour was also responsible for U.S. Grade II winner and Japanese Group 1-placed Casino Drive (Mineshaft); Breeders' Cup Marathon hero Man of Iron (Giant's Causeway); and the dam of MGSW & GISP Greatest Honour (Tapit). Tapit himself played a large role in Saturday's outcome as the broodmare sire of the first two home and the sire of the third.

Modeling has not produced a live foal since Arcangelo and was most recently covered by Munnings.

Saturday, Saratoga
TRAVERS S.-GI, $1,250,000, Saratoga, 8-26, 3yo, 1 1/4m, 2:02.23, my.
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
($35,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Blue Rose Farm; B-Don Alberto
Corporation (KY); T-Jena M. Antonucci; J-Javier Castellano.
$687,500. Lifetime Record: 6-4-1-0, $1,754,900.
Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Disarm, 126, c, 3, Gun Runner–Easy Tap, by Tapit.
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Winchell
Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $250,000.
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: 1, 2HF, 4HF. Odds: 2.70, 12.20, 13.50.
Also Ran: Forte, National Treasure, Scotland, Mage.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Arcangelo Proves The Right ‘Choice’ In Travers 154 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

In Historic Showdown, Stars Collide in Travers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With the three winners of the Triple Crown races gathered for just the fourth time in the GI Travers S. Saturday, will history repeat itself? Will a horse that did not run in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. or the GI Belmont S. deliver an upset in the 154th Travers?

That is how it played out in 1918 with Sun Briar, again in 1982 with Runaway Groom and six years ago when West Coast won the 2017 running of Saratoga's oldest stakes race.

If the historical form stretching over 100 years holds, Scotland (Good Magic) will prevail. The LNJ Foxwoods homebred is the only one of the seven horses entered Tuesday that did not start in any of the Triple Crown races.

Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) is in the Travers field, as is Preakness winner National Treasure (Quality Road) and Belmont hero Arcangelo (Arrogate). So, too, is Forte (Violence), the 2-year-old champion, who was the favorite in the Derby, but was a vet scratch the morning of the race. He finished second in the Belmont and prepped for the 1 1/4 miles Travers with a nose victory in the GII Jim Dandy S. on July 29.

Also taking aim at the $1.25-million Travers purse are Disarm (Gun Runner) and Tapit Trice (Tapit).

From the rail out, the complete field for the Travers S. with morning-line odds:

1-Forte (Violence) (7-5)

2-Arcengelo (Arrogate) (5-2)

3-Tapit Trice (Tapit) (12-1)

4-Mage (Good Magic) (4-1)

5-National Treasure (Quality Road) (8-1)

6-Disarm (Gun Runner) 6-1

7-Scotland (Good Magic) 12-1

All starters will carry 126 pounds.

Jockey Javier Castellano rode Mage in the Derby and Arcangelo in the Belmont. Luis Saez will take over on Mage and Jose Ortiz will be up on Tapit Trice.

Jena Antonucci became the first woman to train the winner of a Triple Crown race when Arcangelo beat Forte by 1 1/2 lengths in the Belmont. If Arcangelo extends his winning streak to four in his first race since the June 10 Belmont, Antonucci would join trailblazer Mary Hirsch, who saddled 1938 winner Thanksgiving, in the Travers record book. Arcangelo will be Antonucci's first Travers runner.

“Having the opportunity to be able to participate in these races is obviously a blessing in itself,” she said. “It's a really cool field. As a race fan myself, to see what is coming together is pretty neat. Obviously, Forte being in the mix, as well, I don't think he can be ignored in the mentions. It makes for a great day of racing, and a great talking topic for fans and others alike. Those are things that our sport continues to need to see happen.”

In May 2022 at Belmont, Forte lived up to the buzz with a 7 3/4-length maiden victory at 1-5. He was fourth as the favorite in the GIII Sanford S., but romped in the slop to win the GI Hopeful S. Earlier this year, Forte was disqualified from the Hopeful win for a post-race drug positive, a decision that is being appealed.

Forte wrapped up the divisional title with wins in the GI Breeders' Futurity and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He opened his 3-year-old season with a victory in the GII Fountain of Youth S. and then rallied in the stretch of the GI Florida Derby to beat Mage. On the morning of the Derby, he was scratched when a veterinarian had concerns about a bruised right front foot. Arcangelo topped him in the Belmont, his first start in 2 1/2 months.

Trainer Todd Pletcher elected to keep Forte at Saratoga and prep in the Jim Dandy. That narrow victory over Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) was in question immediately after the race as stewards decided whether Forte should be DQ'd for bumping Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) while looking for running room entering the stretch. The order of finish was not changed.

With its stature, the Travers is a prize every year, but it is especially important this year for Forte and his connections.

“It's a game of ups and downs,” said Mike Repole, who co-owns the colt with St. Elias Stable. “You had the Derby scratch and second in the Belmont. He won the Florida Derby. He won the Jim Dandy. He'll be the favorite in the Travers. And he's the 2-year-old champ. It would be real, real special, especially for him because now he's in the race. The Derby winner is in it. The Preakness winner is going to be in it. So is the Belmont winner. And the 2-year-old champion. Four champs. Real exciting.”

Pletcher said a Travers score would be satisfying in what has been a trying season.

“You're never going to make up for not getting to run in the Kentucky Derby,” he said, “but it would be, I suppose, some sort of consolation prize if we were able to win the Travers against the three classic winners.”

In 1918, the French-bred Sun Briar became the first horse to defeat the Triple Crown winners in the Travers. Sun Briar, a huge success as a 2-year-old, was withdrawn from the Derby entries when his trainer Henry McDaniel thought he was training sluggishly. In his place, owner Willis Sharpe Kilmer ran the gelding, Exterminator, who had been purchased as Sun Briar's work mate. Exterminator won by a length at 29-1.

Four days after the Derby, War Cloud, who was fourth as the favorite, won a division of the Preakness. Johren had skipped the Derby and finished fourth behind War Cloud in the Preakness then won the Belmont, two lengths ahead of War Cloud. Sun Briar was back in form in the summer and ready for the Travers. He battled Harry Payne Whitney's Johren through the stretch and won by a head to establish the Travers theme.

By the time the 1982 Travers was run on Aug. 21, the Triple Crown series had become a high-profile sporting event. Gato Del Sol won the Derby, but went back to California and did not try the Preakness, which was won by a new shooter, Aloma's Ruler. Trainer Eddie Gregson brought Gato Del Sol to the Belmont, where he was second, beaten 14 lengths by Conquistador Cielo, the Met Mile winner the previous Monday. Aloma's Ruler was ninth.

The Saratoga infield was open to spectators for the Travers and the crowd of 41,839–second-largest in track history–saw the Canadian-bred Runaway Groom come from far back to beat Aloma's Ruler by three-quarters of a length. Conquistador Cielo was rank and could not be controlled by jockey Eddie Maple and raced head to head with Aloma's Ruler from the start. Runaway Groom, the winner of two-thirds of Canada's Triple Crown that summer, pounced on the pair in the stretch. He paid $27.80.

The third edition of the Triple Crown showdown in the Travers featured Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), Preakness victor Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) and the Belmont standout Tapwrit (Tapit). Trainer Bob Baffert sent late-developing West Coast (Flatter) in from Del Mar and Mike Smith rode him to a gate-to-wire victory at 6-1. Tapwrit moved toward contention on the second turn, tired and ended up fourth. Cloud Computing finished eighth and Always Dreaming was ninth. West Coast captured the 3-year-old male championship.

Mage went on to Baltimore after the Derby and finished third in the Preakness. Trainer Gustalvo Delgado gave him a break and started preparing him for a summer campaign with the Travers as the target. He returned to competition on July 22 with a second in the GI Haskell S. at Monmouth Park. He shipped to Saratoga two days later and has worked three times over the main track. Assistant trainer Gustalvo Delgado Jr. said the colt was thriving and that the connections feel he will be at his best after having a month to settle in.

“He's liking it a lot,” Delgado Jr. said. “He loves Saratoga.”

Scotland advanced to the Travers from a front-running 3 1/2-length win in the Curlin S. on July 21. He is handled by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who has won most of the Saratoga stakes at least once, but he has yet to capture the Travers in 11 tries.

Baffert is seeking his fourth Travers win with National Treasure, who has not raced since he was sixth after setting the pace in the Belmont. He will race without blinkers.

After running fourth in the Kentucky Derby in a troubled trip, Disarm won the GIII Matt Winn S. and was fourth in the Jim Dandy. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen is putting blinkers on Disarm for the first time in a race.

Pletcher ran Forte in blinkers in the Jim Dandy and has made that equipment change for his other Travers horse, Tapit Trice. He galloped the horse with blinkers last week and had them on again for a breeze Saturday morning. Pletcher is hoping the blinkers will get Tapit Trice into a competitive position in the race. He felt that Forte lost focus at times in the Florida Derby and the Belmont, but has liked what he saw in the Jim Dandy and in training. He knows that Forte is game.

“You could see it in, well, almost all of his wins, but particularly in the Florida Derby,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to salvage victory from what looked like a sure defeat coming by me at the eighth pole, to accelerate like you did and make up that much ground on the eventual Derby winner. I was proud of him in the Belmont. He was taking all the worst of it got a bit of a wide trip around the turn, coming off a 10-week layoff and still gaining on the winner at the end. In the Jim Dandy had a lot to do with a sixteenth of a mile to go. He's got that personality that he wants to wants to get there first.”

The post In Historic Showdown, Stars Collide in Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Pletchers Honored With Marylou Whitney Award For Commitment To The Backstretch Community

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, along with his wife Tracy, received the Marylou Whitney Award from the New York Race Track Chaplaincy for their continuing devotion and support of the backstretch community at the organization's 16th annual fundraising brunch at the Saratoga National Golf Club, the organization said in a release Wednesday.

“I can't say enough about what the New York Race Track Chaplaincy organization does for the backstretch community,” Pletcher said. “It provides so much more than spiritual help. I look at it like the mayor's office where everyone goes when they need help. On behalf of Tracy and our children, thank you very much for this honor and for your support of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy.”

As is the custom, the Pletchers were presented with a framed racing scene created by equine artist Tom Chapman from the New York Race Track Chaplaincy. In a surprise appearance, Pletcher's mentor, fellow Hall of Famer trainer D. Wayne Lukas, made the presentation.

“God blessed Todd with extraordinary talent and he has shown class, dignity and integrity throughout his career,” Lukas said. “In addition to their own family, Todd and Tracy have also adopted the backstretch family and they are most deserving of this honor.”

The brunch attracted a record crowd of approximately 350 individuals from all segments of the racing industry and included such supporters as Mandy Pope, Jo Ann and Paul Oreffice and Len Green.

Among those in attendance were: Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), NYS Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture and Markets Elizabeth Wolters, trainer Jena Antonucci and Hall of Famer riders Javier Castellano, Angel Cordero Jr., Edgar Prado, and John Velazquez. Liz Bishop, the longtime television news anchor for the CBS affiliate in Albany, once again served as emcee.

Previous honorees have included Andy Serling, Irad Ortiz Jr., Anne Campbell, Edgar Prado, Michael Dubb, Fay and David Donk, Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson, Letty and Kiaran McLaughlin, Lisa and Kenny Troutt, Debbie and Terry Finley and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

 

The post Pletchers Honored With Marylou Whitney Award For Commitment To The Backstretch Community appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Arcangelo Works Ahead of Travers

Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo (Arrogate) posted a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.63 over the Saratoga's main track under Javier Castellano in preparation for the Aug. 26 GI Travers S. Trainer Jena Antonucci said she was pleased with the GI Belmont S. winner's work, which served as a maintenance breeze after he covered the same distance in 1:00.21 on Aug. 6.

“It went super. It was everything we were looking for,” Antonucci said. “The big heavy lifting was in the prior work, so we'll just keep his feet on the ground for the next 10 days and keep him happy.”

In the Travers, the $30,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase will cut back from the Belmont's 12-furlong trip to 10 furlongs in the Travers.

“It's not often you can say you're on the cutback at a mile and a quarter,” said Antonucci, with a laugh. “He's flourished here this summer and continues to mature. We just take it one day at a time.”

The post Arcangelo Works Ahead of Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights