Castaneda 3/6/2010 (Photo: Adam Coglianese)
What a difference a day makes. On Friday CASTANEDA was the presumptive long-shot of the field for Aqueduct’s 109th running of the six-furlong $65,000 Fred Cappy Capossela for three-year-olds (20-to-1 on the morning line). On Saturday his connections were joining him in the winner’s circle to celebrate a wire-to-wire victory, his first in stakes competition, and his second straight win.
With the field scratched down to four horses, and the loss of the would-be heavy favorite Westover Wildcat, a more evenly matched group went to the post, and Castaneda had been bet down to 6.10-to-1. The Gary Contessa trainee broke sharply under pilot Jorge Chavez, won a brief duel for the lead against eventual second-place finisher Strapping Groom, and the two ran one-two around the track, with Castaneda always maintaining a comfortable lead of two or three lengths. Never threatened, he ticked off fractions of 22.67, 45.98, and 57.85 and crossed the finish line in a final time of 1:10.48. After the victory, Contessa said, “It was not my thought to come into this race, but when we heard it was going to be a light field, we decided to enter. This horse has just found himself sprinting.” As to the future: “He probably could use a little time off after this race, but he might be Bay Shore [April 3] material. We’ll see.” Jockey Jorge Chavez said that Castaneda himself chose the strategy: “I didn’t expect to be in the lead but he did it so easily. I said ‘Well, I have to do what I have to do.’ It wasn’t my plan but sometimes if plan A doesn’t work out you have to take plan B.” The Capossela victory came in Castaneda’s sixth lifetime start, improving his earnings to $71,850 and record to 2-0-2.
A dark bay or brown gelded son of Yonaguska, Castaneda is owned by John L. Moirano, Harold Lerner, LLC, and Team Stallion Racing Corp. and was bred and sold privately by Dr. John Crowe’s Empire Equines, LLC. His dam Winloc’s Gramie (Belong to Me) was a multiple winner and Castaneda is her second winner of two foals to start and first to earn black type.
(Quotes courtesy of NYRA Communications)