Jockey Jose Ortiz, who was unseated at the finish line of the first race at Saratoga Race Course July 21, appears to have bruised ribs, according to his agent, Steve Rushing.
"That's what it looks like right now," Rushing said early in the evening of July 21. "He's a little banged up."
Ortiz was riding Same Old Fears when he went down at the end of the race, which was originally scheduled for 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf Course, but was moved to the main track at the same distance after overnight rains. Ortiz, on the ground, was attended to in the grassy area next to the finish line at the finish line for several minutes.
He rose and walked under his own power—albeit unsteadily—to an ambulance on the main track and was taken to Albany Medical Center about 30 miles away. He was holding his right side.
Rushing said that Ortiz was not going to be admitted to Albany Med and was waiting to be released. Asked when Ortiz might return to ride, Rushing said it would be "day-to-day."
Same Old Fears, owned and trained by Wesley Ward, went to the ground and did get up. The 2-year-old filly, who as making her first career start, was caught by an outrider and appeared to be unhurt. However, she was vanned off.
Ortiz was taken off his remaining mounts on the July 21 card.
Same Old Fears was awarded fourth place in the race.
Repole Ready to Roll
The Saratoga vacation starts for Mike Repole and his sizeable entourage this weekend.
And, when Repole rolls into town with his family and friends, he expects one thing. Check that, two things.
One is to see the horses he owns win. The other is to see them win a lot.
He'll hit the ground running. His Gambling Girl is in the 5-2 co-second choice in the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) on July 22; then Nest, which he owns along with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House, runs in the $200,000 Shuvee Stakes (G2) on July 23.
The following weekend, perhaps the star of the Repole show arrives when Forte , owned in partnership with St. Elias Stable, starts his trek to the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) when he enters the starting gate for the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) July 29.
"I've got a lot of horses...I'm loaded," Repole said by phone. "I'm going to try and have some fun. I mean, it's exciting. A good month of racing. Maybe a little more."
Repole talks fast. Real fast. The 54-year-old from Queens talks faster than some horses run. If you're not paying attention, you might miss something. Maybe a lot.
Before getting into his expectations for the summer, he changed hats. Time for him to become a member of the Saratoga Springs Chamber of Commerce and do his pitch for Saratoga Race Course.
"What's the average attendance? Twenty thousand? Twenty five? Basically, you can have 25,000 on any given day card, which is equivalent to everybody who goes to Aqueduct for six months," Repole said. "It's a meet where a $25,000 claimer wins and it feels like a graded stakes. It's magical. It has an allure that is like what Fenway Park is to baseball."
Repole has had summers of fun at the Spa before. He has won the Travers. He has a couple of Alabama Stakes (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks, too.
From 2010 to 2012 he was the leading owner at Saratoga. But he didn't say he was loaded then. Not like now.
"It's a different feeling," he said. "I have a horse in the Coaching Club Oaks that could be the first or second favorite. I have Nest coming back. Forte. The loaded feeling I have now is with having quality horses that can win the big races ... the ones I have dreamed about winning since I was a kid."
He's just getting started. He said he has 100 2-year-olds and that gets him talking even faster.
Repole reminds you that Uncle Mo, who might have been the best he ever had, broke his maiden as a 2-year-old at Saratoga on Travers Day of 2010. He won by 14 1/4 lengths.
Another of his star equines, Stay Thirsty , broke his maiden at Saratoga—only by 5 1/2 lengths—in 2010 and then came back the next year and won the Travers.
About this year's batch of juveniles, Repole wasn't going to get too much into the bravado. At least not yet.
He talks constantly with Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher for updates. He likes the feedback he is getting.
"We are working horses right now that we like that don't have names," Repole said. "Who knows who could be the next 2-year-old champion like Uncle Mo and Forte were? The part of who is going to be the next one is incredibly exciting."
Antonucci Here for Long Run
Nothing like a brisk, 20-hour road trip from Florida to get the blood pumping.
That was trainer Jena Antonucci on the morning of July 21 after arriving at her barn on the Oklahoma Training Track following the trek from the sunshine state.
Antonucci will be grounded at the Spa for the rest of the meet as she oversees the progress of Arcangelo , the Belmont Stakes (G1) winner, who is being pointed to the Aug. 26 Travers.
Arcangelo, a son of Arrogate, made Antonucci the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race after the Belmont victory.
Antonucci doesn't want to bask in any glow from that race, preferring to deflect it towards her staff, including her longtime assistant Fiona Goodwin. Life is good, but there is still work to be done.
She watched Arcangelo gallop on Saratoga's main track on the morning of July 21, hours after arriving from Ocala, Fla. With her were her trusty companions, her dogs, Lucy and Mando.
Arcangelo, as his routine, rolled around in his round pen outside of the barn. He was bathed. He was walked. He was watched by his trainer. The blueprint is to have Arcangelo train up to the Midsummer Derby and Antonucci is just fine with that.
"When the owner (Jon Ebbert) bought this horse, he said he was buying because he wanted to focus on the 2024 Breeders' Cup," Antonucci said. "People laughed, but they are kind of getting it now. We have had to have a plan, we are being patient. We aren't ducking races. We are letting this horse grow up. We don't need to force things with him."
Arcangelo has raced five times in his career and has three wins; four of his races have been this year.
When asked if the ultimate goal this year is the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Antonucci smiled.
"We are focusing on one at a time," she said. "I'm not going to give you that one."
Antonucci will watch with interest the July 22 $1 million Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park, which features Kentucky Derby (G1) Mage , who will be ridden by Javier Castellano.
Castellano is also the rider of Arcangelo, so a decision will be have to be made sometime soon on which one he will ride in the Travers if both colts get there. Again, there will be no worry from Antonucci about it.
"The rider thing will work out," she said. "Someone will hang onto him. I feel like, in life, you can't stress about things you can't control and I can't control that. It will work out, it always does."
Personal Ensign New Target for Played Hard
A day after the disappointment, trainer Philip Bauer has a new goal for his 5-year-old mare Played Hard.
Standing outside his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track on the morning of July 21, Bauer said Played Hard will be pointed to the $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) Aug. 25.
The original plan was for Played Hard, who won the La Troienne Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs on May 5, to run in the $200,000 Shuvee Stakes on July 23 at the Spa, but the daughter of Into Mischief was not entered after spiking a temperature.
"It was one of those things that maybe we could have entered and ran, but if she did run bad, then you are mad at yourself," Bauer said. "With that caliber of horse, we did the right thing."
Bauer said Played Hard got the temperature sometime Wednesday afternoon and was coming out of it the next day. He decided to be cautious and not enter the 5-year-old mare, who is owned by Rigney Racing.
The plan is for Played Hard to head back to the track on July 22; she would have likely gone on July 21 but overnight rains nixed that idea.
Then, it's onto the Personal Ensign.
"It's pretty frustrating," Bauer said about missing the Shuvee. "This game is full of disappointments so you have to focus on the positives. It's one thing if she is hurt; that's the big killer. This is no big deal, very minor. You jump on top of it, you treat it, and it's water under the bridge. The Personal Ensign is a great race and it's our new target."
