The Arrogate (USA) rig Arcangelo claimed the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Gr1 Belmont Stakes and honour trainer Jena Antonucci as the first female to saddle a classic winner in America.
Second on debut at his only start at two in December, Arcangelo has not looked back after a 3yo debut fifth at Gulfstream Park in January. He won his maiden by three and a half lengths on the same track on March 18 and captured the Gr.III Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont on May 13.
Given a ground-saving ride by the Kentucky Derby winning jockey Javier Castellano, Arcangelo battled tenaciously down the straight to defeat last season’s champion 2yo Forte (Violence) by one and a half lengths with Tapit Trice (Tapit) a nose back in third.
"They say there's no crying in baseball, but they never said it about horse racing," Antonucci told BloodHorse.
"It's been overcoming adversities.
"You go through growing and your career and you take it on the chin, and you fight for that spot. You feel you have to prove your worth, but horses don't care. They don't care who you are. They know who you are and to have a horse believe in you and your team.”
Bred by Don Alberto Corporation, Arcangelo was bought by his owner Jon Ebbert for $35,000 from the Gainesway consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale. He apparently had some X-ray issues.
The son of the champion Arrogate has a real Belmont Stakes pedigree. His unraced dam Modeling is a daughter of Tapit, who has sired four Belmont Stakes winners, Creator, Essential Quality, Tapwrit and Tonalist.
A $2.85m purchase by Don Alberto Corp. at the 2014 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Modeling is a daughter of the Storm Cat mare Teeming, a half-sister to two Belmont Stakes winners, Jazil in 2006 and Rags To Riches who won the following year, the first filly to win it in over a century.
Arcangelo is the fifth Grade I winner for Juddmonte Farms’ Arrogate. The champion son of Unbridled’s Song (USA) was euthanised in 2020 after succumbing to a suspected neurological illness at the age of seven. He had covered three books.
