Antonucci says Arcangelo is ‘doing well’ after shoe is pulled

Trainer Jena Antonucci says there’s no cause for alarm after Arcangelo didn’t visit the Santa Anita track Sunday or Monday ahead of an expected start as the likely favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I simply pulled off a hind shoe,” she told Horse Racing Nation on Monday. “He had a warmth from the inside of the heel. And whether he tagged the wall or whatever, we don't know. And it has gone the right direction each day. We just are giving him the patience. He's ready to run. We don't have to do anything from a training point of view. And so, just being responsible and conservative.

"It's not very exciting," she said. "And I'm sorry about that. He literally pulled off a hind shoe. That is it. So boring, so very boring.”

Antonucci said the shoe, which was removed Saturday, has not been replaced.

“We haven't even looked at it, to be honest, like to put one back on,” she said. “Just giving the foot a couple of days. He's walked in mornings and walked afternoons, and he's doing well. But it was just making sure all the warmth came out of it, just giving the foot a minute. We have breathing room, so there was just no rush on our behalf. I realize everyone else is angsty about it. But why rush if we didn't have to?”

Arcangelo last worked on Wednesday, going four furlongs in 47.4 seconds at Santa Anita. The Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Travers winner has had three works at Santa Anita since Oct. 5, all 10 days apart. The 10-day intervals between works and races have been more or less the standard for the son of Arrogate since his Belmont win.

Antonucci recognizes that her approach to training is a departure from the norm for horses at this level and that it “makes other people uncomfortable. But that's fine. They can do them. It's just that easy. And if something's going to change, then we'll let everybody know. But that's, again, from the first afternoon to the next morning, it was probably over 30 percent better pretty quickly.”

She said there’s no timetable for replacing the shoe. “I'm going to just continue to assess him each morning and afternoon. … We're going to tend to the horse, like we always do. Horse first, and then we'll make everyone else happy later.”

Asked whether there is any reason to expect Arcangelo won't run on Saturday, Antonucci said, “I currently have no feeling of that.”