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Arcangelo at work in Saratoga, July 26, 2023
Blue Rose Farm’s two-time Group 1 winner Arcangelo was at Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma training track on Friday in preparation for the $6 million Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park on November 4th. I skipped five minutes.
Arrogate Gray, trained by Jenna Antonucci and piloted in a breeze by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, sailed solo at 7:30 a.m. ET.
“Great 5/8 maintenance breeze for #Arcangelo today at the Oklahoma track in Saratoga. Posted a 103.25, smooth 117.13 gallop out,” Antonucci said on X [the website formerly known as Twitter].
Arcangelo, who won his first race with a third-place finish at Gulfstream Park in March, won his stakes debut in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont in May and won the NYRA Bets on June 10. Antonucci became the first filly to win the sponsored Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. A trainer who won the Triple Crown race. Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano won his first Test of the Champions by 1 1/2 lengths over reigning champion 2-year-old Colto Forte.
Arcangelo trained the Grade 1, $1.25 million dollar Travers at Saratoga Race Course on August 26th, and 11 weeks after the Belmont coup, he took his place at the top of the 3-year-old division with a one-length lead over Diarm. Hardened. The win was Castellano’s record-extending seventh traversal point, following his win against Bernardini. [2006]Afleet Express [2010]stay thirsty [2011]VE Day [2014]Keen Ice [2015] and a catholic boy [2018].
Jockey Antonucci, who currently resides in Florida and has a number of horses that race at Gulfstream Park, will follow Travers’ record of running a half mile in 47.62 seconds on the main course at Spa on September 12th. This was the second time I saw footage of Brees. Rider Robert Mallari practicing on the track.
“Everything was good. It was what we were looking for. Today was just a maintenance job. It’s too early to do anything serious,” Antonucci said. “He felt the wind once before after the race, but this time he’s just maintaining his final fitness.”
Antonucci said he was glad Castellano was able to travel to Saratoga for some wind, as Arcangelo is scheduled to be shipped to California on Wednesday.
“I think it was important for Javier to know that his next move was to California and that it was going to be more difficult for him,” Antonucci said. “He and Robert have a very good relationship and are able to communicate very well about how the horses are doing and how they’re feeling. After the Traverse race, I wanted Javier to get a good feel for him and make sure he was aware of all the situations. I think it was good for everyone to make sure we were satisfied with the results.”
Arcangelo, who was purchased at Keeneland’s September sale for $35,000, earned more than $1.7 million with a record of 6 wins, 4 losses, and 1 minute, 0 seconds.
Antonucci said a good deal of the mystery has been successfully removed from Travers’ score.
“He continues to grow and takes his job very seriously,” Antonucci said. “I think he’s enjoying it and he’s having a lot of fun doing everything. Our focus is to make sure he stays in that mindset and what we want from him.” This means that it has been extremely successful.
“He drinks water tall and you can physically see that he hasn’t lost any weight in the race and continues to stay in shape,” Antonucci added. “So he’s going to continue to develop the way he’s supposed to.”
Bred in Kentucky by the Don Alberto Corporation, Arcangelo is out of the Tapit mare Modeling, whose second dam, Better Than Honor, sired Belmont Stakes winner Jazir. [2006] And from rags to riches [2007].
