Anyone who knows Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito knows this—nothing is going to get him down.
An owner of five Triple Crown race wins, the 75-year-old Zito remains the optimistic ambassador of the sport. Even though his business has slowed in recent years, he won't ever give up.
Not now. Not ever.
"I am going to fight to the end," Zito said, sitting at a table outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. "I'm going the full 15 rounds."
Zito has won 2,060 races over his storied career and retirement is not in his vocabulary. But, after just four wins in 197 starts over the last three years—his horses have hit the board 37 times—there is frustration.
"Of course there is," he said. "I would be lying if I said no. I have to fight; you have to put your armor on."
Zito is still up before the sun and tending to the 14 horses he has in his care—which he says is an all-time low for him. That will continue. He isn't going anywhere.
However, he has started a new venture in the game he has given so much to. Along with partner Robert DiPippo, Zito has launched ZD Horse Racing and Management.
Zito, the president, will focus on management and will use his expertise at the sales, while DiPippo, the vice president, will run the business end. DiPippo, originally from Long Island, said he has a wealth of experience from his years in mediation and arbitration.
DiPippo's dogged determination has already pulled in two major investors in Syracuse-based businessman Adam Weitsman and Barstool Sports owner David Portnoy. At the recent Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale, Zito picked out a colt by Practical Joke that was purchased by Weitsman and Portnoy for $250,000.
Weitsman was co-owner of Concrete Rose, who won six of seven career starts, including the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T), the Florida Oaks (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs | BloodHorse.com Track Profile">Tampa Bay Downs and the Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T) in 2019, and the Jessamine Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland in 2018.
Zito and DiPippo hope this is only the beginning.
"I have a knack of getting people together," DiPippo said. "When somebody tells me I can't get something done, it makes me work even harder. I knew I could get investors. I have a lot of connections. And Nick is the most knowledgeable guy out there."
Zito is loyal to a fault and all he wants is for the game to get better. And the game is better if Zito is better.
"The owners I have in my stable have been great to me," Zito said. "The problem is I don't have enough players...good players. I don't know how many trainers can make it with only a few horses."
When Zito met DiPippo last year, they clicked. They talked. They teamed up. Now they are hoping to make it work and work big.
"Rob came up with the idea," Zito said. "I still have my brand, thank God. His idea makes a lot of sense. Look at those two guys (Weitsman and Portnoy). They have a big following."
"Half the battle is putting it together," DiPippo said. "Nick is the vital guy. You walk around with Nick and there is not one person who doesn't like him "
The Practical Joke yearling is being broken in Ocala, Fla., DiPippo said. Where the young horse ends up is still to be determined.
"Whatever Nick says, I trust his judgment," DiPippo said. "I let him make the decision. If he wants to train the horse, he will train the horse."
And, make no mistake about it, Zito still wants to train horses.
"I want to get better stock and I want to stay in the game," Zito said. "These two guys (Weitsman and Portnoy) will give me the chance. The owners I have now are tremendous people; they are hanging with me and we are waiting for Citation to come in the barn."
Big Weekend for Castellano
The resurgence continues for jockey Javier Castellano.
The Hall of Fame rider added to his solid 2023 resume over the weekend when he left Saratoga Race Course for a day and won a pair of $500,000 races at Colonial Downs in Virginia.
He rode Fev Rover for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse to a victory in the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) and then was on Gigante as he took the Secretariat Stakes (G2T) for Steve Asmussen, another Hall of Famer.
He did not get the Colonial hat trick because his mount in the Arlington Million Stakes (G1T), Strong Quality for Casse, finished seventh.
The win with Gigante came as a surprise as he went off at odds of nearly 23-1, the longest price in the field of six 3-year-olds. The 5-year-old mare Fev Rover, last seen finishing third in the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga July 15, won the five-horse Beverly D. and paid $3.20 as the favorite.
Castellano said he was home in Saratoga Springs by 10:30 p.m. ET Aug. 12 and he was back at it working horses Aug. 13.
The two Colonial wins give Castellano 12 graded stakes wins this year. Last year, he was only able to win six graded stakes, the year before just seven.
Four of his graded stakes wins this year have been grade 1s. He also won the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Mage , the Belmont Stakes (G1) with Arcangelo , and the United Nations (G1T) at Monmouth Park aboard Therapist.
More good things could be coming for Castellano, who will ride Arcangelo in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Aug. 26.
"This year has been a blessing," Castellano said Sunday after visiting Arcangelo in his stall at trainer Jena Antonucci's barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. "I thank God that everything has been going the right way. It has just been a great year."
Winning two important races on the same day is something Castellano has done before. On March 11, 2017, at Santa Anita Park, he won the $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T) aboard Bal a Bali for trainer Richard Mandella and the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) with Shaman Ghost for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.
"Trust me, I've been on the other side so many times when I leave town and it doesn't work out," Castellano said. "This was a good trip."
Closethegame Sugar Posts 19-1 Upset in Mahony for Adam Rice, Edwin Diaz
Trainer and co-owner Adam Rice continued a torrid run of form this meet by earning his sixth win from just nine starters when 19-1 shot Closethegame Sugar upset Sunday's $150,000 Mahony Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomores.
The 32-year-old nephew of top NYRA trainer Linda Rice was overcome with emotion in the winner's circle.
"It's only my second career stakes win and to have it be here is something special," Rice said of the special score engineered by Jose Lezcano. "You're reaching coming up here some days coming out of Presque Isle—[but] the horses are nice, and if they're nice, they tell you what they want to do, and he's one of my favorite horses to ride every day. I can't talk and I might be tearing up a little bit."
Rice, who saddled Dancing Spirit for a victory in Race 2 earlier on the card, won with his first Saratoga starter when Don't Be So Salty posted a maiden special weight score at 9-1 odds in August 2015.
Closethegame Sugar, co-owned by New York Mets closer Edwin "Sugar" Diaz, was put away after his maiden score last year at Saratoga and returned June 5 to finish a close second in the six-furlong Tom Ridge over the Presque Isle Downs synthetic.
"I tell you what, there's so much fight in this horse it's not even funny. He gives every bit you ask of him," Rice said. "His first [time] out, he was a little bit short I think and that horse [Webslinger] gave it to him, and he still gave it. Jose [Ortiz] was excited when he got off of him. Jose (Ortiz) couldn't ride him today, but Jose Lezcano brought it home."
Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr. are close friends with Diaz, who, like the Ortiz brothers, hails from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Rice said that while he would like to try Closethegame Sugar on dirt, he has yet to consider a next start for the Girvin gelding, who was purchased for $10,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"Man, I'm still trying to get through today. I've got to go back to Presque Isle and train horses in the morning," said Rice, with a laugh.
Bred in Kentucky by Brereton C. Jones, Closethegame Sugar is out of the Magna Graduate mare Casual Cocktail, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-placed Rum Go. He banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 2-1-0 from three starts and returned $41 for a $2 win bet.
Mahony Stakes recap contributed by the NYRA Press Office.
