Spring belongs to Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano.
He hopes to stay motivated for the rest of the summer.
Castellano, 45, broke some personal barriers during the Triple Crown season as he won his first Kentucky Derby (G1) with magician and his first Belmont Share (G1) with Arcangelo .
Castellano finished 0 to 15 in Run for the Roses before this year and 0 to 14 in Belmonts before.
Mage and Arcangelo can enter a collision at the end of the meeting at Racecourse Saratoga in Travers Stakes worth $1.25 million (G1) on August 26. Castellano won’t worry about that right now.
“It’s a good position to be in,” Castellano said while doing back swings one recent Saratoga morning. “We’ll see what happens.”
Castellano got off to a solid start at this meeting. Over three days of racing, he has three wins in 22 laps with two seconds six thirds.
A year ago, Castellano had a rejuvenation, as he came out of the 2021 race where he won just 13 races. The whispers began that he was done, but Castellano knew better. He recovered with 25 wins over Saratoga last summer and is currently in top form.
“I work hard and I am dedicated,” Castellano said. “I’ve proven that I belong. I love what I do and I’m here to win races and competitions. A lot of people are supporting me and my agent (PJ Campo) has been there. worked hard to help me ride the horse. Everything is fine working well.”
He won his first bet race on opening day when he was instructing Becky’s Joke to an upset victory (21-1) in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3).
Castellano will not belittle anything. He was having a hard time in 2020 going through a COVID-19 episode and also had arthroscopic surgery on his right leg near his hip.
“When my business slows down, I think people question you, just like any other sport,” he said. “They said, ‘Let me see how you come back; let me see how good you are. Everything was fine last year, but this year is better.”
Blazing Sevens Breezes Heading Towards July 21 Curlin
John Capek, who with his wife, Carla, founded Rodeo Creek Racing, hoping to have a lot of fun this summer at Saratoga. Good timing may start rolling on July 21 when Blazing Sevens one of 10 horses they have with trainer Chad Brown, running in the $135,000 Curlin Stakes.
A win there and maybe a trip to the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) on August 26.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him again on the track,” Capek said on Saturday.
Blazing Sevens (outside) gliding with his stablemate Accretive July 15 on the Saratoga main track
Blazing Sevens finished the second game, defeated by National treasures in Preakness Stakes (G1) May 19 at Racecourse Pimlico in his final start on May 20.
On Saturday, the Blazing Sevens, with gymnast Peter Levia on board, made four stretches in: 49.91 on the main track at Saratoga. He works in the company with accretion a 4-year-old is staked from the Brown coop, who is timed at the same time.
They are listed as the 108th fastest time out of 166 at long distances on an extremely busy workday.
“The horse did a great job,” Brown said at his barn near Oklahoma Training Road. “He’s had some time to recover from that tough race and he looks set to come back fresh and strong.”
Brown was thinking of competing for the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) prize at the Spa on July 22 but opted to enter Curlin, the tournament for horses that have not won a classified sweepstakes. at one mile or more in 2023. Both races are for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 mile.
Blazing Sevens hasn’t won since he won the mile-long Champagne Stakes (G1) last fall at the age of 2. Despite winning in 2023, the foal has steadily progressed through every race this year.
One of the reasons Brown made his choice was his desire to get one of his riders. Irad Ortiz Jr. and Flavien Prat, both of whom have ridden the Blazing Sevens in the past, wouldn’t have been available if Brown had gone the way of Jim Dandy.
Brown says Prat will ride the Blazing Sevens in Curlin on Friday.
John Capek has owned horses for 15 years since the early 2000s but has left to focus on his position at Abbott Laboratories, where he was executive vice president of Ventures for the past 17 years.
He and his wife founded Rodeo Creek—named after a street they had their home in California—in 2021. Blazing Sevens, son of good magic , named after a jackpot bet in blackjack. John Capek said his wife hit it more than once. Both are hoping to hit the biggest Saratoga jackpot of the season with the Blazing Sevens.
John Capek said: “He has done very well at Preakness and we are very much looking forward to him continuing to improve. “The Curlin helped him have a great time with Travers. We feel fortunate to be in the situation we are in. He has put his heart and soul into his coaching.”
Millionaire Mare Caravel Faces Men Again in Troy
Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and many Madaket Stables 1st place winners caravans ran half a mile in: 48.88 July 15 on the Oklahoma training ground at Saratoga.
Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) winner was assigned to start another match against the men’s competitors at Saratoga with the $300,000 Troy Stakes (G3T), a 5-course sprint. 1/2 on August 5, trainer Brad Cox told the watching public.
Caravel has won 15 of 23 starts and made just $1 million last year. She’s undefeated in three starts this year, most recently a match against men on June 10 at Jaipur Stakes (G1T).
“She’s really good. Physically, she looks great. She’s happy,” Cox said. “I don’t know if we need her to get better, she just has to keep playing as good as the first half of the year. If we can double that in the second half, we’ll be great. shape.”
Caravel wins Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park
Cox also told the New York Racing Association that he plans to run Godolphin’s Kentucky thoroughbred team. Wet paint during the American Oaks Coaching Club (G1) July 22, a 1/8 mile test for sophomores. She worked five stretches for 1:00.60 in Saratoga on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Cox’s top oldest stallion, Gary and Mary West’s Kentucky thoroughbred Western Willpower walked half a mile at :51 2/5 on Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. He could be the starter in the August 5 Whitney (G1) Stock at Spa.
Scheduled to run at the end of the month for Cox in Saratoga on July 29 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) is Albaugh Family Stables’ angel of the empire and Gary and Mary West’s impressions , who won fourth place in the Belmont Stakes (G1). They worked 5/8 in the company at 1:00.90 on July 14 on the Oklahoma training road.
The New York Racing Association contributed content related to Caravel’s race plans.
