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 Rinaldi is led to the winner's circle by his connections after the 2021 Forbidden Apple Stakes |
The feature race on the first Friday of the 2021 Saratoga meeting was the $150,000 Forbidden Apple Stakes (G3). A field of 9 older horses went to post for this 1 mile trip around two turns of the inner turf course. Conditions were excellent with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 80's. Rinaldi was sent off as the 5-4 favorite off his close second place finish in the Danger's Hour Stakes at Aqueduct in April. In to challenge him included 5-2 second choice Value Proposition, an allowance winner last out after a close third in the Elusive Quality at Belmont, and 7-2 third choice Sacred Life, 3rd in the Maker's Mark Mile (G1) then 4th in the Dinner Party (G2).
 Rinaldi leads in the stretch |
Jockey Luis Saez sent Rinaldi to the lead first time by and he set fractions of 24.31, 48.83, and 1:12.70 over the firm course while pressed by 20-1 Made You Look and stalked by Value Proposition. Turning for home, Rinaldi opened up a 2 length lead through 7f in 1:23.83. Value Proposition quickly closed the gap in deep stretch but Rinaldi held him off to win by 1/2 a length in 1:35.70 over firm going. It was a neck back to 17-2 Delaware third.
Pgm Horse Jockey Win Place Show 1 Rinaldi Saez 6.70 3.80 3.10 3 Value Proposition Ortiz Jr. 3.40 2.70 7 Delaware Ortiz 4.70 Winning Time: 1:35.70 $1 Exacta 1-3 10.60 $1 Trifecta 1-3-7 58.50 $1 Superfecta 1-3-7-9 155.20 |
Left: Rinaldi in the winner's circle. Winning owner-trainer H. James Bond said, "He's a better two-turn horse. We got rained off on New York-bred day and I decided to regroup, bring him here and get him ready for this and get two starts here. With Luis [Saez], I didn't have to say anything. He puts him where he needs to be. The horse is just all heart. He's such a cool horse."
Right: Rinaldi heads back to the barn after the race. Winning jockey Luis Saez said, "He was traveling comfortable. That was the plan. We tried to have a good break and control the pace and everything went to plan. He likes this track. This is like his backyard."
Left: Rinaldi in the paddock before the race. Bond added, "This is our base. This is where we keep everything. The better horses stay up here and we didn't have a good Belmont. But sometimes when you have a bad meet, you have those seconds and thirds turn into wins. You just have to keep working and keep fighting every day to turn it around. It's a humbling deal. He loves this course. He's a good miler. Two turns with a small horse, he kind of steals away on the turns. You don't realize it, but all of a sudden he's got a length on you. He's just that quick. You just hope he has something left when he hits the wire and he did today."
Right: Rinaldi returns after the race. Saez added, "When I turned for home, I had a lot of horse. I let him run and he gave me a pretty fast kick. In the end, I had a feeling he was going to get there, and he did."
Left: Second place finisher Value Proposition heads out to the track before the race. Trainer Chad Brown, who trains the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers said, "He [Value Proposition] was trying to lay in and he had every chance to draw alongside [Rinaldi] but he didn't have it today. He was trying to lug in. The winner won well." Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. added, "I had a perfect trip. The winner was alone in front and he's a nice horse, too."
Right: Third place finisher Delaware in the paddock before the race. Trainer Chad Brown said, "With my other two horses (Delaware and Sacred Life), I needed a little bit more pace than that. Unfortunately, the winner was loose on the lead and that's his game. These horses weren't good enough at a mile to get it done today and we'll have to go back to the drawing board."
Left: The horses break from the gate for the Forbidden Apple Stakes (G3).
Right: Friday afternoon, the trophies for leading trainer, jockey, and owner for the Belmont spring/summer meet were presented. Chad Brown registered 32 victories to finish as the leading trainer at the Belmont spring/summer meet for the sixth consecutive year. The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer was 32-29-30 in 155 starts with earnings of $3.68 million. His win total was five more than second-place finisher Christophe Clement. "It takes a lot of good horses, loyal and patient owners and, of course, the team," Brown said. "This meet wasn't easy. We had a bad virus run through the barn and that really hampered us from winning more races, but we were able to overcome it. We really just focused on getting through the meet and getting the horses healthy. Exiting the meet now, we were able to still win a lot of meaningful races, and it looks like the horses are nice and healthy heading up to Saratoga, so I'm really proud of the job they did of just persevering through a turbulent couple of months."
Left: Jose Ortiz won the riding the title with 59 victories during the 48-day meet. Ortiz compiled a 59-47-46 record in 279 mounts, finishing with a 21.22 winning percentage while tallying earnings of $4.93 million. Following Irad Ortiz, Jr. [57 wins] was Manny Franco, who ended the meet with 52 wins. "It's always great to win a meet," Ortiz said. "We all know Irad was out for some time; I wanted to win it, but I can only control what I can control. But it's always good to have success here to get that momentum for Saratoga. If you are winning or running second or third with good horses here, they come back in races up there and you're going to ride them. Hopefully, you get a good head start on the meet."
Right: Klaravich Stables won its third consecutive Belmont spring/summer meet, posting a record of 11-10-12 with 57 starters while also leading all owners with earnings of $1.39 million. Headed by Seth Klarman, Klaravich Stables teamed with Brown for a pair of Grade 1 wins with both Domestic Spending and Search Results, marking the ownership group's two stakes victories for the meet.
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