Triple Crown News Minute Presented By Kentucky Equine Research: Kicking Off The Upside Down Triple Crown

The most unusual Triple Crown in American racing history begins on Saturday, with the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes from Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Normally run at a mile and a half in early June after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, this year's Belmont will be contested around one turn at the abbreviated distance of nine furlongs in front of an empty grandstand because of the restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tiz the Law, a New York-bred colt by Constitution, is the 6-5 morning line favorite for Sackatoga Stable and Barclay Tagg, the same owner-trainer combination that won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with another New York-bred, Funny Cide. Empire Maker upstaged Funny Cide's quest for a Triple Crown, winning the Belmont on a day when more than 100,000 braved the cold and rainy weather.

Clear skies are forecast for Saturday.

While Tiz the Law is the clear favorite, based off Grade 1 victories in the 2019 Champagne at Belmont and the 2020 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, there are some late bloomers who could offer a serious challenge, including Tap It to Win for trainer Mark Casse. In 2019, Casse took the final two legs of the Triple Crown with War of Will in the Preakness and Sir Winston in the Belmont.

In this edition of the Triple Crown News Minute, Ray Paulick and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth go through the field of 10 3-year-olds, assessing their chances and making their selections for this first American classic of 2020.

Watch today's Triple Crown News Minute below:

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Luca Panici Feeling ‘Confident’ In Long-Time Partnership With Sole Volante

Luca Panici has maintained a somewhat low profile while establishing himself with Gulfstream Park horsemen as a solid, steady and smart jockey since leaving Italy for a new adventure in the United States.

The 46-year-old Milan native, however, will take Thoroughbred racing's center stage Saturday at Belmont Park, where he will compete in his first Triple Crown race while riding Sole Volante in the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes (G1).

“He's a tremendous horse. We have a lot of confidence. He's one of the best 3-year-olds in the USA,” Panici said. “It's very exciting. I'm going there to enjoy it.”

The son of a jockey, Panici grew up playing soccer with Frankie Dettori across the street from the local racetrack. Dettori, four years his senior, inspired Panici with his immediate success as a jockey at the age of 16, as well as the subsequent fame and fortune he earned in England and across the world. Panici went on to enjoy success while riding more than 500 winners in Italy, but racing in the U.S. first caught his attention in 1996, when he spent a winter in South Florida galloping for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott for free in exchange for one mount (fifth-place finisher Yokama in a Feb. 19, 1996 allowance at Gulfstream).

Panici, who returned to South Florida the following winter to gallop for trainer Gary Sciacca, rode sporadically at Calder Race Course and Gulfstream for the next several years before making a permanent move to the U.S. in 2009. He has won 677 races in the U.S., none more important than Sole Volante's triumph in the Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs. The late-closing 2 ½-length victory was the son of Karakontie's first on dirt and made him a 2020 Triple Crown player.

Panici has been involved in Sole Volante's development right from the start, breezing him for trainer Patrick Biancone prior to riding him to victory in his debut over Gulfstream Park prWest's turf course last October.

“I used to work him before he ran. I worked him a couple of times on the grass and he was amazing,” Panici said. “Mr. Biancone, from the first day, was sure he would handle both grass and dirt. When we worked him on the dirt, he showed the same ability. We figured we had a really good horse.”

Due to injury, Panici had to sit out Sole Volante's victory in the Nov. 30 Pulpit Stakes, in which future Tampa Bay Derby (G2) winner King Guillermo finished third, but he was back aboard for a third-place finish in the Jan. 4 Mucho Macho Man in his first start on dirt. After breaking through with a victory in the Sam F. Davis, Sole Volante staged an impressive rally from 11th to finish second behind King Guillermo in the Tampa Bay Derby, before the coronavirus pandemic halted racing at most racetracks and forced the postponement of the Kentucky Derby (G1) to Sept. 5 and the Preakness Stakes to Oct. 4, making Saturday's Belmont the first leg of the 2020 Triple Crown.

Sole Volante continued to train at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County before returning to action in a stakes-quality optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream June 10. Rating kindly for Panici, Sole Volante trailed his five rivals as stablemate Ete Indien set a contested pace, made a wide sweep into the stretch and got up to win by three-quarters of a length under a hand ride.

“There was a lot of pace which is very good for him. Even at Tampa, when we won the Sam Davis, there was a lot of pace where he could relax behind. Last time, it was the same way. I got lucky there was only a six-horse field, so I didn't have any kind of trouble. He has a very, very professional mind. It was a nice finish, beating the horse that ran second in the [Curlin] Florida Derby,” said Panici, referring to Shivaree, who pressed Ete Indien before weakening late.

Panici's successful association with Biancone hasn't been limited to Sole Volante's exploits. The veteran jockey has become a trusted member of the Biancone team, breezing and regularly riding Ete Indien, whom he rode to an allowance win and a second-place finish behind subsequent Florida Derby (G1) winner Tiz the Law in the Feb. 1 Holy Bull (G3) during the Championship Meet, and Kelsey's Cross, whom he guided to an eye-catching triumph in the $100,000 Ginger Punch Stakes June 6.

“Mr. Biancone has won two or three Arc de Triomphes. Winning two or three Arc de Triomphes is like winning two or three Kentucky Derbies, here. It's the most difficult race in Europe,” Panici said. “When you ride for the best, it's pretty easy. I'm confident in him and he's confident in me. We're doing pretty good together.”

Sole Volante has been rated second in the Belmont Stakes morning line at 9-2 behind Tiz the Law, the 6-5 favorite in a field of 10 3-year-olds.

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‘Sole’ Gives Panici Deserved Day in the Sun

At 46, Luca Panici is far too deep into his career for anyone to talk sensibly of breakthroughs. But if it is unusual to find the second favorite for a Classic ridden by a jockey who has otherwise partnered a single graded stakes winner, then let nobody be deceived. Luca Panici was born and raised for days like Saturday, and his horsemanship and character are absolutely commensurate with the opportunity awaiting him on Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the GI Belmont S.

The one pity, of course, is that this belated showcase will be so bleakly lacking the atmosphere that usually prevails on the Triple Crown trail. Yet the real hollowness, the real absence, relates not to the deserted grandstands, but to the man who entwined both nature and nurture in the evolution of Pancini’s talent: his father Vittorio, who belonged to a golden generation of jockeys in Italy, and died only last year.

“With no fans, for sure, it’s not the same,” Panici admits. “Belmont is a big racetrack where they can seat 60,000 or 70,000 people. But we just have to be thankful to have the opportunity to run these races. In Florida, we never stopped racing. They’ve done a great job, and we have to be grateful to all the people involved. So I think we should see everything as a plus, and enjoy it.

“But yes, my father, he was really proud of my choice to come and make a career here. He used to visit every year, and watch the races. And I’m pretty sure that he will still be proud from Heaven.”

Vittorio’s riding career extended for 42 years, and associated him with the distinguished stables of Federico Regoli and Antonio Pandolfi. His own father had been a jockey, likewise his three brothers. Unsurprising, then, that Luca and his brother Marco also entered the family trade.

“I was almost born on the racetrack,” says Panici. “All the family were involved: they were all jockeys or trainers or assistant trainers. I lived two steps from the track. And for everybody in my area, the dream was to become a soccer player if you had the right body; or to go to the racetrack if you were too small for that.

“I’m lucky to have had so many family members involved. They taught me a lot, growing up. My father was a very intelligent rider. He could say before the race all the tactics of the other jockeys. So, as a beginner, I would try to follow him and think about the moves he made. He wasn’t a big talker, but his little bits of advice you’d always remember for next time.”

Panici owes his big chance to another transatlantic migrant in trainer Patrick Biancone, who found Sole Volante for just $20,000 at OBS last April. Panici first rode the gelding in the colors of Biancone’s daughter Andie, though his silks on Saturday will reflect the investment meanwhile of Dean and Patti Reeves.

In his time, Biancone has tutored four of the outstanding modern French riders in Dominique Boeuf, Eric Legrix, Gerald Mosse and Olivier Peslier; and, after reaching the United States, he similarly mentored Julien Leparoux. As such, his faith in the veteran Panici obviously means a great deal.

“Mr. Biancone has won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe twice, he’s a first-class trainer who compares with the best in the world: [John] Gosden, [Aidan] O’Brien, even [the late Sir Henry] Cecil,” he says. “These top trainers, they can see something in the horse, just galloping, that others can’t see. To pick a horse out like this one, for that kind of money: this is an artist. And when you are riding for this kind of trainer, it’s much easier. They know right away the ability these babies have, and how they will develop. From the first day, Mr. Biancone was always confident about this horse.

“These trainers, they have the full package. They choose the right horse, they choose the right jockey. Mr. Biancone has discovered a lot of good jockeys. So to be chosen by a guy like him is great: it’s exciting, it improves you. He started to put me up on horses a couple of years ago. He gave me a couple of chances, I got lucky, things went well. Here it’s not like in Europe, where you have contracts: here if you’re not winning, they can change the trainer or the jockey. But we started on the right foot together, we kept winning. And I like his work, in the mornings, especially with the babies. He has a lot of respect for the horse.”

Panici has ridden Sole Volante with corresponding aplomb, pouncing from the rear in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. and again last week in the allowance race chosen by Biancone as a left-field prep for Saturday.

Certainly his mount could only gain confidence from the way Panici delivered him there, sheltering him from a hot pace so that he could scythe them down as they tired in the stretch. It was a lovely, restrained piece of riding.

“It worked out perfect for us,” Panici says. “A fast track, a fast pace. It was genius in Mr. Biancone, to come back in a race like that. And I do enjoy the way this horse races. In America, a lot of horses go fast in the beginning. With him, you have to sit and wait but then the turn of foot is very strong, very fast. Sometimes you have to be lucky coming from behind, if the track is fast, because you don’t have that long stretch like in Europe. But when you ask this horse, he gives everything.”

But if these tactics are tailored to Sole Volante, perhaps they also show how Panici has adapted his European education to the American environment. Frankie Dettori, similarly, has cultivated a style that transcends both cultures from a parallel background: his father Gianfranco rode for years against Vittorio Panici.

“But Frankie is older!” Panici stresses with a laugh. “I am the younger generation! He was born in 1970, and I’m 1974. He is a part of my brother’s year. When we played soccer, and he was 11 or 12, I was really a kid. But Frankie is more than the best jockey. He’s the best person, and everything he has got in his life he deserved.

“But yes, if his father didn’t win, my father won. When I started riding, in the ’90s, the turf in Italy was one of the best in Europe. So I gained a lot of experience, and could pick up things from all the older trainers and jockeys. It was a good journey. Because we also had jockeys like Willie Carson, Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery coming to ride the big races in in Milan. It was spectacular. Wally Swinburn, Cash Asmussen, Steve Cauthen. A generation of genius jockeys. There was no riding school at the time, but race-riding you could learn lessons all the time.”

Panici first started coming to Florida in the 1990s, initially for a few weeks at a time. His brother Marco had done a stint with Luca Cumani in Newmarket, and that opened a connection to Cumani’s former assistant Christophe Clement.

“I always loved the American racing,” Panici says. “And then in the early 2000s the economy was pretty bad in Italy: they were cutting purses, closing tracks. So I made that big decision. It took time. If you don’t have the right connections, it takes time to break the ice. I had to learn to be more physical; how to prepare my body. In Europe you travel more and ride less. Here you ride six days a week, and a lot of races; and you’re working hard in the mornings too. So you need to develop your body, to be more athletic.”

No less than his rider, Sole Volante has proved adaptable between a grass education and a dirt graduation.

“Even before he had run, he showed ability breezing on both surfaces,” says Panici. “When he won first time out on the grass, it was just a regular race, but he showed that ability to pass horses. But the best thing was that he has always had a tremendous mind. He’s very quiet, you can train him how you want, and you can put him wherever you want in a race.”

Panici has only recently returned from a third fracture in six months, having broken a couple of ribs at Gulfstream in late April after earlier foot and collarbone injuries. Having assumed himself to have only suffered bruising, the X-ray was an unpleasant surprise.

“That hurt more than a broken bone, thinking that you might miss a horse like this,” he says. “But that’s how a jockey’s life can be. You might never touch the ground for a few years and then something can happen two or three times in a few months. The important thing, in this job, is always to stay positive. I have to thank the owners, and Mr. Biancone. They told me this horse was always waiting for me, and that’s a big motivation to have something like this to come back to. And so my target was to make sure I came back 100%, and luckily I’m fine now.”

In a normal year, of course, that accident would have kept him out of the GI Kentucky Derby itself. As it is, the Derby still beckons at the end of the summer. The inversion of the Belmont, now the first and shortest of the Classics, might not suit Sole Volante ideally with a relatively small field running around a single turn. But Panici believes the horse to be indifferent to distance, given an adequate tempo.

Certainly it would be nice to think that whatever momentum he can generate in the stretch, horse and rider can keep moving forward–potentially to more Grade I prizes later in the year, with the kind of buzz and crowds merited by this fresh chapter in a proud family saga.

For while Panici speaks with all the humility of one long accustomed to the ups and downs of his calling, by the same token he is seasoned enough to ascend calmly to this higher altitude. Florida horsemen attest to his immaculate bearing, and diligence in the mornings. (Among them, his compatriot Dr. Paolo Romanelli of Ital-Cal Horse Management, a great-nephew of Vittorio Panici’s employer Federico Regoli). And the fidelity of Biancone, in this ruthless business, speaks volumes of Panici’s eligibility for this belated opportunity.

Every inborn instinct should help him to seize it.

“It is a good feeling, to be part of this show,” Panici says. “These Triple Crown races are the most important races in America and to be part of that, on this horse with a nice story, is very exciting. I’m proud of all the people around me that have helped me to ride this horse.

“This is one of the best jobs in the world. But sometimes you have to be lucky. Without luck, you can’t find the right people, the right horse. Yes, you have to have the ability, the quality. But sometimes without luck, you get nowhere.”

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Belmont Stakes: Sole Volante ‘The Best He’s Ever Been’ Off 10-Day Turnaround

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Andie Biancone's Sole Volante will be coming off the shortest turnaround of any of the 10 contenders in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, but his connections said having a prep race before starting the Triple Crown series provided a much-needed boost.

The ultra-consistent Sole Volante stalked the early speed and used his late-closing turn-of-foot to post a three-quarters of a length victory against allowance company at one mile on June 10 at Gulfstream Park. The victory netted the Karakontie gelding a 95 Beyer Speed Figure – exceeding 90 for a fourth consecutive race – and marked his first race in three months since running second to King Guillermo in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 7.

The Patrick Biancone trainee shipped to Belmont, where he alertly schooled in the paddock Wednesday mere hours before he drew post 2 and was listed as the 9-2 morning-line second choice behind 6-5 favorite Tiz the Law.

“He just came out of that allowance race so well and we did an open gallop with him on Monday,” said Andie Biancone, assistant trainer for her father in addition to being Sole Volante's co-owner. “We really waited for him to do the talking. He's behavior is great, and he came out of it so fresh and so happy and so well, we couldn't not go to this race.”

Sole Volante is 4-1-1 in six career starts. He began his career 2-for-2 on turf, including a win in the Pulpit in November at Gulfstream Park to cap his juvenile year. The elder Biancone moved him to dirt to commence his sophomore campaign and never looked back, with Sole Volante running third in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man before registering a 2 ½-length score in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis in February at Tampa Bay Downs, earning a personal-best 96 Beyer.

His come-from-behind running style was on full display in the 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby, where he was 11th at the half-mile mark before rallying second. With restrictions in place nation-wide to mitigate risk and combat the spread of COVID-19, Sole Volante continued to train in Palm Meadows, Florida awaiting his next start.

Andie Biancone said that next spot finally came last week. That victory at Gulfstream Park will now be used as a springboard to the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes.

“We wanted to run him before the Belmont,” Andie Biancone said. “To go almost 100 days without a race, they're itching for it. They're athletes. Mentally, he wanted to do more. Once he got that race him, it was like he said, 'I'm all right, everything is OK.' They love to run. Mentally and physically, he's just perfect right now. We couldn't be happier.

“I think the rest did him well at the end of the day,” she added. “He's put on a lot of weight and grown. For any young horse, I think some time off can do them well. This situation hasn't been done before, but he came out of it well.”

This year's Belmont Stakes will be held at a one-turn 1 1/8 miles, marking the first time since 1925 the American Classic will not be held at its traditional 1 ½ miles. After posting wins at one mile and 1 1/16 miles, Biancone said the Kentucky-bred's late-closing speed could set up well down the stretch on Big Sandy.

“I think he's a closer. With a lot of speed in the race, hopefully he can sit back comfortably and pick his route from there,” she said. “Also, this is the best he's ever been right now, both fitness-wise and mentally.”

After making all six of his starts in Florida, Patrick Biancone said his charge shipped in well to New York and was getting comfortable in New York.

“So far, so good,” Patrick Biancone said. “He's very talented. He's been very good for us and trains his best all the time. We'll see how good he is Saturday. No question, Tiz the Law is the horse to beat, but he totally [deserves] this opportunity.”

Andie Biancone echoed that sentiment after riding Sole Volante under the sunshine in the Belmont paddock Wednesday.

“He was alert but not nervous,” she said. “I think that's something good to look for.”

Andie Biancone, a fourth-generation horsewoman, is the youngest of Biancone's four children. For her 22nd birthday last April, Patrick Biancone bought an interesting gift, purchasing the 2-year-old Sole Volante for $20,000. She now shares ownership with Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, headed by Dean and Patti Reeves, who campaigned Mucho Macho Man, who ran third in the 2011 Kentucky Derby and was the stable's only previous Belmont Stakes entrant, finishing seventh that year.

“When I first heard that Dean Reeves wanted to buy a part of Sole Volante, I was star-struck,” she said. “I was such a huge fan of Mucho Macho Man growing up. They are great ambassadors of the sport. To be partners with them is great. They are great people and great horsemen. His best interests is always with the horse. I admire that. They are fun to work with.”

If there's one thing New Yorkers appreciate, it's authentic Italian, and Andie Volante said in that spirit, the pronunciation of Sole Volante's name was authenticated by a stellar source: jockey Luca Panici, who was born in Milan and began his racing career in Italy before expanding into North America, where he's won more than 600 races multiple graded stakes, including the Sam F. Davis.

Sole Volante, Italian for “Flying Sun,” is a nod to his sire's name, with Karakontie Mohawk for “Flying Sun.”

As the exclusive broadcast partner of the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown, NBC Sports will present live coverage from Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day beginning at 2:45 p.m. Eastern.

Belmont Stakes Day June 20 will feature six graded races including four Grade 1 events led by the historic Belmont Stakes, which will offer 150-60-30-15 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Rounding out the Grade 1 entertainment on Belmont Stakes Day are the $300,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies going one mile; the $250,000 Woody Stephens presented by Claiborne Farm, a seven-furlong sprint over Big Sandy for 3-year-olds; and the $250,000 Jaipur, presented by America's Best Racing, for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on turf, which offers a berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. A pair of one-mile turf races for sophomores, previously contested at nine furlongs, completes a stakes-laden card with the Grade 2, $150,000 Pennine Ridge and the Grade 3, $150,000 Wonder Again for fillies.

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