Jena Antonucci

Leading GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender Arcangelo (Arrogate), winner of this summer's GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S., had his first work at Santa Anita Thursday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.20 under exercise rider Robert Mallari. "We're just getting him used to the track," trainer Jena Antonucci said. "There's plenty of time go fast." Antonucci was on hand in California for the work from her stable in New York. She will be back in New York Friday morning, but will return to Santa Anita later this month and remain...

With Santa Anita Park set to begin its fall meet, fans will be greeted by a pair of all-new state-of-the-art paddock video boards beginning on opening day, Friday, Sept. 29, 1/ST Racing said in a press release late Thursday. Manufactured by US-based Daktronics, the video boards each measure nine feet tall by 16 feet wide. While the previous paddock video boards had a pixel pitch of 15mm, the new boards provide much higher quality viewing, with a finer 6mm one. To view a time-lapse installation click here. Breeders' Cup Stars...

Blue Rose Farm's GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) breezed five furlongs in 1:03.25 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.13 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga on Friday. Regular jockey Javier Castellano was aboard for the move, which was the gray colt's final work before shipping to California on Wednesday to begin final preparations for the Nov. 4 GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. "Everything was good," trainer Jena Antonucci said. "It was what we were looking for, it was just a maintenance...

At 12 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, the Kentucky Horse Park's free September EquineEd lecture series welcomes Jena Antonucci and Katie Miranda, trainers and co-owners of horseOlogy, the organization said in a release early Thursday. HorseOlogy is a full-cycle Thoroughbred training and ownership organization based in Ocala, Florida, that handles everything related to breeding, training, and racing. The event will be held at the Hall of Champions barn and attendees can enter through the Visitor Center. The next speaker in the series is Erin O'Keefe of the Retired Racehorse Project Oct....

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Following a tradition that has been in place for several years, King's Tavern across the street from Saratoga Race Course was not open for business Monday, the final day of annual summer meet. Closed on closing day. On purpose. While it may be a sad afternoon for the 22,097 patrons on the grounds for the last card of 2023, the Fitch brothers, who operate King's and the City Tavern on Caroline Street, use closing day at the track to pause a bit on Labor Day and...

Arcangelo (Arrogate) was in fine shape Sunday following his victory in the GI Travers S. at Saratoga Saturday, but connections will take their time before picking out a next start for the sophomore. "He came back well and is full of himself today," said trainer Jena Antonucci. "Of course the Breeders' Cup is on the radar, but horses don't care about schedules or spreadsheets. We'll do what we've been doing and give him his space. We'll let him pave the way." Arcangelo added the Travers to his win in the...

In many ways, it was a 'good' problem to have. Having added a maiden success in the GI Kentucky Derby to his Hall of Fame resume at long last aboard Mage (Good Magic) in early May, jockey Javier Castellano continued a magical ride when teaming with Jena Antonucci to make history in the GI Belmont S. on the progressive Arcangelo (Arrogate), as the connections of Mage turned their collective attention to the second half of the season. Mage resumed with a very good runner-up effort when reportedly not fully fit...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With the three winners of the Triple Crown races gathered for just the fourth time in the GI Travers S. Saturday, will history repeat itself? Will a horse that did not run in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. or the GI Belmont S. deliver an upset in the 154th Travers? That is how it played out in 1918 with Sun Briar, again in 1982 with Runaway Groom and six years ago when West Coast won the 2017 running of Saratoga's oldest stakes race. If...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, along with his wife Tracy, received the Marylou Whitney Award from the New York Race Track Chaplaincy for their continuing devotion and support of the backstretch community at the organization's 16th annual fundraising brunch at the Saratoga National Golf Club, the organization said in a release Wednesday. "I can't say enough about what the New York Race Track Chaplaincy organization does for the backstretch community," Pletcher said. "It provides so much more than spiritual help. I look at it like the mayor's office where...

Blue Rose Farm's Arcangelo (Arrogate) posted a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.63 over the Saratoga's main track under Javier Castellano in preparation for the Aug. 26 GI Travers S. Trainer Jena Antonucci said she was pleased with the GI Belmont S. winner's work, which served as a maintenance breeze after he covered the same distance in 1:00.21 on Aug. 6. "It went super. It was everything we were looking for," Antonucci said. "The big heavy lifting was in the prior work, so we'll just keep his feet on the ground for...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It turned out that a non-decision is precisely what settled who would ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Travers. Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano rode both horses to their victories in the Triple Crown series and had his choice of which one to ride in the Travers on Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course. He holds the Travers record of six wins. Mage's trainer, Gustavo Delgado, asked Castellano on Monday to give him...

Luis Saez will ride Mage (Good Magic) in the upcoming GI Travers S., it was announced Tuesday afternoon in a tweet from trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr. He replaces Javier Castellano, who won the GI Kentucky Derby aboard the colt and also guided him to a third-place finish in the GI Preakness S. and a runner-up effort in the GI Haskell S. Saez rode Mage to a second-place finish in the GI Florida Derby. Saez opted to ride Tapit Trice (Tapit) in the Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher. Tapit Trice finished...