Will Arcangelo Train Up To BC Classic After Travers Triumph?
Trailing Scotland around the clubhouse turn in last Saturday’s Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, Arcangelo jockey Javier Castellano waited patiently for the right time to strike.
Arcangelo, the Belmont Stakes winner, had so much left in the tank that Castellano felt he could have blown right by the pacesetter. Instead, Castellano let the race develop and guided his horse four-wide to the outside. In a flash, Castellano’s sweeping move catapulted Arcangelo to a three-length lead, as the son of Arrogate took command of the $1.25 million Travers.
In winning the prestigious Travers, known colloquially as the “Midsummer Derby,” Arcangelo likely vaulted to the top of the Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings. Arcangelo soundly defeated Jim Dandy Stakes winner Forte, the previous leader in the rankings, by eight lengths.
“Basically, after the three-eighths pole, I just enjoyed the ride — I just enjoyed the moment,” Castellano said during the post-race press conference.
Preakness winner National Treasure, the fifth-place horse, finished another 1 3/4 lengths behind Forte. Pinched at the start, Kentucky Derby winner Mage finished last, beaten by Arcangelo by more than a dozen lengths.
If trainer Jena Antonucci decides to rest Arcangelo until the Classic, her horse will be off for more than nine weeks until the $6 million race, which will be held on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park. Heading into The Travers, Arcangelo ranked fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings, one spot behind Mage. The Breeders’ Cup is one of the largest days for horse betting on the global racing calendar.
“Of course the Breeders’ Cup is on the radar, but horses don’t care about schedules or spreadsheets,” Antonucci told reporters on Sunday. “We’ll do what we’ve been doing and give him his space. We’ll let him pave the way.”
An extended layoff
In the immediate aftermath of the Travers, Antonucci remained in a celebratory mode on Saturday night, opting to wait before discussing future plans for the Classic.
If Antonucci decides to train Arcangelo up to the Classic, she will employ a similar blueprint as she did for the Travers. After winning the Belmont in June, Antonucci rested Arcangelo for more than 10 weeks before Saturday’s victory.
A late bloomer, Arcangelo broke his maiden in March with a 3 1/2-length win at Gulfstream Park. Owner Jon Ebbert then decided to rest him for nearly two months before a victory at New York‘s Belmont Park in the Grade 3 Peter Pan.
Bought for $35,000 in the 2021 Keeneland yearling sale, Arcangelo was the lowest-priced of the seven entrants in The Travers. By comparison, third-place finisher Tapit Trice went for a cool $1.3 million at the same sale in Kentucky.
Arcangelo is unbeaten in his last four starts, all coming after layoffs of more than three weeks.
“It was never a layoff in our mind,” Antonucci said of the lengthy period between the Belmont and the Travers. “This horse has had his entire career that way, because Jon wants him to move along slowly given the time that he needs to grow up.”
In the Classic, Arcangelo will challenge older horses for the first time. Whitney Stakes winner White Abarrio placed second in last week’s Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings, just behind Forte. A five-length winner in the Whitney, White Abarrio is expected to train up to the Classic. Several others in the Top 10, including Defunded, Proxy, and Japan’s Ushba Tesoro, may also enter the Classic.
With the victory in the Travers, Antonucci became the first female trainer to win the Midsummer Derby since 1938. She now has the opportunity to become the first female trainer ever to win the Belmont, the Travers, and the Classic in the same year.
“You don’t let the naysayers deter you. You let them motivate you,” Antonucci said after the race.
Asked by US Bets about the significance of possibly winning all three with Arcangelo, she responded, “I keep saying that I need to find another word, but I’m just so grateful for the horse showing up like he did today.”
New safety measures at Saratoga after tragic death
Several races before the Travers, tragedy stuck when New York Thunder suffered a fatal injury in the Grade I H. Allen Jerkens Memorial. New York Thunder, an unbeaten 3-year-old colt, held a three-length lead in the deep stretch when he suffered a catastrophic injury to his left front fetlock.
New York Thunder unseated jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who walked on his own volition to an ambulance. One in Vermillion, a 19/1 longshot, wound up defeating Verifying by 1 3/4 lengths after New York Thunder lost his footing.
The breakdown marked the 14th death of a horse at Saratoga since May. The death of New York Thunder came three weeks after Maple Leaf Mel suffered a catastrophic leg injury mere feet from the wire in The Test. As with New York Thunder, the previously undefeated Maple Leaf Mel had a considerable lead in the deep stretch.
When asked by US Bets if there are any surface issues with the Saratoga track that might have precipitated the high rate of breakdowns, trainer Brad Cox responded, “if there were, I wouldn’t be racing my horses here.” Cox, the trainer of 2021 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year Knicks Go, also trains Verifying.
After a two-day break, racing resumes at Saratoga on Wednesday. There are six days left in the Saratoga summer meet, which runs through Labor Day.
“The safety of horses and jockeys competing at Saratoga Race Course is paramount,” New York Racing Association CEO Dave O’Rourke said in a statement. “While NYRA has made meaningful and sustained progress reducing the frequency of serious injuries over the last 10 years, there is always more work to be done to build upon that progress.”
NYRA is also working with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s (HISA) Track Surface Advisory Group to further examine the condition of all three racing surfaces at Saratoga, O’Rourke added. On Tuesday, the federal oversight authority announced new safety measures for the remainder of the meet.
Pre-race screenings that are typically completed by local veterinarians will now be performed by HISA vets, the authority announced. For the remainder of the meet, the vets will perform the screenings to provide an additional layer of independent analysis to identify any horses that may be at increased risk of injury.
“These steps are being taken to mitigate additional risk of equine injury in the short term, as HISA continues to work with NYRA to thoroughly review the circumstances surrounding recent equine fatalities at Saratoga to inform additional interventions moving forward,” the authority said in a statement.
