Jena Antonucci becomes first woman to train winner of a US Triple Crown race as Arcangelo lands Belmont

A slice of history was created by Arcangelo's Belmont Stakes triumph in New York on Saturday evening as the unheralded Jena Antonucci became the first woman trainer to saddle the winner of a Triple Crown race.

The apple of her eye was ridden by Javier Castellano and he had a length and a half in hand over 9-4 favourite Forte, while Tapit Trice was third.

Kentucky Derby hero Mage did not run, while National Treasure, who beat him in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, was sixth in the Belmont, which took place despite smoke concerns from wildfires in Canada. 

In Arcangelo, the Florida-based Antonucci possessed a promising but inexperienced colt who made his debut the week before Christmas.

Since then, he has blossomed and a minor win at Gulfstream Park in March was followed by a Grade 3 success at Belmont Pak last month.

"It's the horse and I'm so grateful," said Antonucci. "I'll forever be indebted to his honesty to us, his heart, and he's why you get up seven days a week. I didn't get a lot of sleep the last few nights, I'm not going to lie. I'm so grateful."

Arcangelo: winner of the Belmont StakesCredit: Sarah Stier

Todd Pletcher, Brad Cox, Bob Baffert and Steven Asmussen - training royalty in the United States - were represented in the Belmont, which 50 years ago was won by Secretariat, whose stunning performance is arguably the finest ever produced by a thoroughbred. 

"When we were walking out, I said there isn't a table made for you, you make the table," added the 47-year-old Antonucci. 

"You put great people around you, you work hard. Work your tail off. It will come if you do it the right way."

Surrounded by horses growing up, Antonucci worked for the legendary D Wayne Lukas before a spell as an equine veterinary assistant.

She ran a pre-training and spelling operation before starting training in 2010.

Paying tribute to her winner, a son of world champion Arrogate, Antonucci said: "He's just figuring it all out. He's just a big kid.

"Javier did such a great job. There were a lot of horses taking up in the first turn and he sorted that out and got it together and on the backside made his way up the rail. We knew we wanted to get a little jump on them. We weren't worried about the distance. His cruising speed is just stupid, stupid fast."

The victory was also a notable one for Castellano, who was recording a clean sweep of wins in Triple Crown races following his victory aboard Mage this year and two Preakness successes in 2006 (Bernardini) and 2017 (Cloud Computing).

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