NYRA/Chelsea Durand
By Sarah Mace
Trinity Farm homebred Macagone, a 5-year-old gelded son of Artie Schiller, meted out some very satisfying poetic justice at Aqueduct on Saturday.
Dismissed at odds 34-1, he won his sire’s namesake race, the $150,000 Artie Schiller Stakes, at one mile on the turf after employing (for him) an unorthodox strategy.
On paper, the competing speeds in the Artie Schiller field did not bode well for Macagone’s success, especially the speed of Heart to Heart, who was drawn toward the outside. Macagone’s six prior victories had all come gate-to-wire and he had no history of rating successfully. As it happened, the Bill Mott-trainee did the unthinkable: sat a pocket trip rating under jockey Kendrick Carmouche, and closed with determination to get the win.
Exiting post 3 of 10, Macagone settled in at the rail and raced covered up in fourth. Favorite Heart to Heart set the pace, running the first quarter mile in 23.72 and the half in 47.95, pressed along by New York-bred King Kreesa.
NYRA/Adam Coglianese
After three-quarters of a mile, Macagone got some extra room to run. Heart to Heart spurted ahead at the head of the stretch and Macagone angled out for the drive and moved into second.
Charging to the wire, the gelding passed Heart to Heart with a furlong to go and dug in to ward off the fast-closing runner up Blacktype to secure the win by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:36.66. Night Prowler finished a length in third. [VIDEO]
Said Leana Willaford, assistant to trainer Bill Mott, “Kendrick [Carmouche] did a great job. He mentioned before about the speed on the outside [Heart to Heart], so he sat in a stalking position and it worked out for him. I thought the horse has been doing awfully well, I was a little surprised to see him at that price actually [34-1, $70 to win]. He has races on his back form that showed if he ran his best races today, he could be competitive. It was a very good race.”
Carmouche, commented, “I had a perfect trip. There were two speed horses that just happened to be on the lead and my horse had tactical speed, but I wanted to sit on my horse and relax. I fell into the right spot, got a real run and angled out at the top of the lane and he excelled from there and held on. I’d like to thank Leana and the whole crew for putting me on the horse.”
Carmouche inherited the mount from Chris DeCarlo after DeCarlo went to the hospital for x-rays following a spill two races earlier on the card. Carmouche said, “I’m sorry that Chris couldn’t ride the horse. That’s a tough deal, but he ran perfect.” The DRF’s David Grening tweeted later that DeCarlo’s x-rays were negative and he would be back in the saddle by Thanksgiving, adding, “DeCarlo’s agent Winston Heslop said DeCarlo ‘is talking. He’s happy. Only thing he’s sad about is Billy Mott’s horse won [the] stake’ without him.
A consistent runner throughout his career, Macagone owns seven wins (led by victories in the open Danger’s Hour earlier this year and the Artie Schiller on Saturday), three seconds and five thirds from 23 lifetime starts. He is closing in on the half-million-dollar mark in earnings with $462,167.
Foaled at Monhil Farm in Pine Plains, Macagone is out of Isabel Away, a winning daughter of Skip Away. Isabel Away is also the dam of successful turf runner Birchwood Road by Pure Prize, a three-time grass winner over $220,000.
The mare currently has a 2-year-old full brother to Birchwood Road named Red Knight, a yearling colt by Colonel John, and a weanling filly by Freud.
