Global Courant
Arcangelo took the lead at the top of the stretch and won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, making Jena Antonucci the first female trainer to win the race in 155 years.
After the horse crossed the finish line, Antonucci doubled over and rested her arm and her head on the back of a chair. She kissed the horse on the nose as it returned to the area in front of the winner’s circle.
Arcangelo finished the 1 1/2 mile race in 2:29.23 and by 1 1/2 lengths ahead of the favored Fotre, with Tapit Trice third.
“I give all credit to the horse,” said jockey Javier Castello, who rode Mage to victory in the Kentucky Derby and got this mount when that colt failed to run in the Belmont. “This is a great horse. I’m really happy for her, you know, she’s a really good woman. She’s a good rider.”
Arcangelo wins the 155th Belmont Stakes
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The heartwarming win added a positive note to a Triple Crown series marred by horse deaths at Churchill Downs in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby and another on Preakness day for a trainer Bob Baffert. It also ended a week in which the Belmont Stakes was compromised by air quality problems caused by wildfires in Canada.
Those disappeared on Friday and the cloud over thoroughbred racing lifted on Saturday.
‘Never give up’
The 47-year-old Antonucci, who started riding show horses as a toddler and later held numerous racing jobs, became a trainer in 2010 and ran a modest stable. She had mailed fewer than 2,000 horses in her first 13 years.
All the work paid off in one race.
“Never give up,” said Antonucci, who cried several times during conversations with the media. “And if you can’t find a seat at the table, create your own table and build your team and never give up. You will be seen. People will see you. Just keep working hard.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you! pic.twitter.com/BIF34E8fqb
Antonucci was only the 11th woman to race a horse at the Belmont and the first since Kathy Ritvo Mucho sent Macho Man to a seventh-place finish in 2011. Dianne Carpenter’s Kingpost had the previous best finish, second to Risen Star in 1988.
Arcangelo came into the Belmont after a hard-fought win in the Peter Pan Stakes.
Arcangelo, breaking from the No. 3 post position, was always close to leading the nine-horse field. Preakness winner National Treasure led a group of seven within striking distance after one half, but as the race progressed Arcangelo stayed on the rail and ran into National Treasure on the far corner leading into the stretch.
By the time they reached the stretch, Arcangelo moved forward, opening up some daylight and not letting any horse come closer than the last margin.
“He has the heart of a champion,” said Antonucci.
Arcangelo paid $17.80 US, $7.20 and $4.90 and earned $900,000 for Blue Rose Farm, owned by John Ebbert. Forte returned $4.30 and $3.30 and Tapit Trice was $4.10 to show.
Hit Show finished fourth and was followed by Angel of Empire, National Treasure, Il Miracolo, Red Route One and Tapit Shoes.
