The prestigious  Grade 1 Travers Stakes is scheduled for Saturday at Saratoga Racecourse. Interestingly, the reputed race, which is considered to be a bridge between triple crowns and breeders has attracted many big names this year. The winners of all three triple crown races are set to participate in the event. Among them is the Belmont Stakes winner, Arcangelo.

Blue Rose Farm-owned three-year-old colts have been at the Saratoga since July in preparation for the $1.25 million Stakes race. After giving his equestrian trainer a historic win at Belmont, he is getting ready for another win for her. Jena Antonucci began as the first women trainer in history to win a triple crown race at Belmont. She was happy about her horse’s performance and opened up about him before the Grade 1 stakes.

Equestrian trainer speaks about her horse

Arcangelo has been training at the Oklahoma Training Track since he arrived at Saratoga. He has worked on a ten-day schedule which his equestrian trainer has set, keeping in mind his strength, ability, and nature. Arcangelo has been training under the worth $7,385,806  trainer’s watch since then, and she feels elated to have such a wonderful horse. According to Horse Racing Nation Jena thinks Arcangelo’s versatility is the answer for all the trouble he may face in the race. Speaking on the three-year-old colt, she said, “We are so blessed to have such a versatile colt that we can back into any kind of scenario“.

The race day position and tactics will not affect him because he can adjust accordingly. Arcangelo’s last race was at Belmont which was a mile and a half distance track, but at Saratoga, it is a mile and one-quarter. So, there were concerns that this demotion could affect his performance, which the trainer denied. She said, “So again, just so blessed to have a colt that is so versatile and has what I would call some DNA seed in there from his dad, where it just makes him so dynamic in that regard“. She explained that he has won races of a mile, mile, and eighth and mile and a half. Therefore, this will not be an issue for the colt. Arcangelo will be racing after a considerable gap which Jena thinks was necessary to give the colt some space and hopes that everything works out perfectly on the day.

Arcangelo’s equestrian career

Arcangelo is the son of Arrogate and Modelling and was bred by Don Alberto Corporation, Kentucky. He started his equestrian racing career as a two-year-old in December 2022 at Gulfstream Park, where he participated in a six-furlong race where he secured a second position. Arcangelo’s maiden victory came in his third career race of a mile at Gulfstream Park in March this year. He came from behind in that race and won it by three and three-fourths length.

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Later on in won the Grade 3 $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes in a neck-to-neck race with Bishops Bay in May. In June, he showed his strength and pace winning the Belmont Stakes by one and a half lengths. The horse has earned $1,067,400 to date.

Arcangelo has been training for a long time for the Travers Stakes and the trainer hopes the space given by her during this stretch might work out in his favour as planned.

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