In a race that changed with the early-morning scratch of 'TDN Rising Star' Long Neck Paula (Uncle Mo), it was Whatintheliteral for trainer Jena Antonucci who was able to take the field gate to wire and break her maiden at odds of 13-1 in the Astoria S. Thursday. Run twice at Keeneland over 4 1/2 furlongs, the daughter of Lord Nelson ran into both The Queens M G (Thousand Words) and West Memorial (Caracaro) in her debut start Apr. 7. Up for third beaten just three-quarters of a length Apr. 24, Whatintheliteral shipped to Saratoga and picked up the extra furlong to work with. Ridden for the lead from the rail slot under jockey Javier Castellano, the longshot set a pressured tempo with Aoraki never far off her in second. That pair kept things interesting into the stretch as racing room often got tight between them and Whatintheliteral only just getting her head down on the wire first. The stewards opted to take a look at the stretch run but ultimately made no change to the order of finish.
“We didn't expect her to run on the front,” admitted Antonucci. “She's always been sharp out of the gate. She had a couple green moments at Keeneland. Today, she didn't have to run across a non-existent rail, so I think her having a white line to follow all the way around [helped]. Cornelia, her rider, has been giving her some good mileage around this track kind of closer to the rail to make sure she was comfortable there. We thought we'd break, have some speed, sit her off the rail a little bit and someone would go. Obviously, Javier [Castellano] read the right race. It's my job to stay out of his way, too.”
The eighth stakes winner for the late Lord Nelson, Whatintheliteral is the third foal and third winner from Lilikoi, herself a half to MSW/MGSP Manchurian High (The Daddy). Lilikoi reported a filly by Greatest Honour this year. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
ASTORIA S., $150,000, Saratoga, 6-6, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:05.06, ft.
1–WHATINTHELITERAL, 120, f, 2, by Lord Nelson
1st Dam: Lilikoi, by Freud
2nd Dam: Corredor's Wind, by El Corredor
3rd Dam: Ka Lae, by Hawaii
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-horseOlogy Racing and Craig
Steinhart; B-Bella Inizio Farm, LLC (FL); T-Jena M. Antonucci;
J-Javier Castellano. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 3-1-0-1, $89,129.
2–Aoraki, 122, f, 2, Dominus–Mountain Music, by Maclean's
Music. ($11,000 Ylg '23 KEEJAN). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-OXO
Equine LLC and Susan Montanye; B-Hawk Hill Thoroughbreds
(KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $30,000.
3–French Horn, 122, f, 2, Complexity–Emma's Encore, by
Congrats. ($65,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-BG
Stables; B-Narola, LLC (ON); T-Mark E. Casse. $18,000.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, 6 3/4. Odds: 13.50, 3.85, 3.15.
Also Ran: Baytown Butterfly, West Memorial, Biscuitwiththeboss, The Queens M G. Scratched: Baytown Cleopatra, Long Neck Paula.
#1 Whatintheliteral breaks her maiden in the Astoria S. at Saratoga for trainer @jenaantonucci with @jjcjockey aboard! 🏆
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/MAMUQjLfvO
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) June 6, 2024
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