Antonio of Venice back for another rumble in Rego Park

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Whatever your opinion was of the incident at the quarter pole of the Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Stakes last month at Aqueduct, it cannot be argued that Antonio of Venice ran a big race to win.

The race became controversial when the stewards disqualified the runner-up, Brick Ambush, and placed him last for alleged interference at the quarter pole, but took no action against Antonio of Venice, who did come off the rail and impede at least one horse. Still, after that incident, Antonio of Venice had to switch out to the six path and run down two horses ahead of him in the final furlong, which he did successfully to win by three-quarters of a length. The Big Torpedo, fourth in the Thunder Rumble, came back to win his next start by 10 lengths.

Antonio of Venice, a 6-1 shot in a field of 12 that day, figures a shorter price Sunday when he meets just four rivals in the $100,000 Rego Park Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs at Aqueduct.

In the Thunder Rumble, Antonio of Venice was coming off an 82-day layoff following a busy five-race campaign from May to September where he went 1 for 5.

Rudy Rodriguez, trainer and part-owner of Antonio of Venice, believes the layoff helped the horse mature physically and mentally.

“I wanted to put a little more weight on him and it looked like we accomplished that,” Rodriguez said.

Due to the controversial finish, Rodriguez doesn’t think Antonio of Venice got enough credit for the race he ran in the Thunder Rumble. Off a touch slow, Antonio of Venice raced an up-close third under Manny Franco, took some dirt, and Rodriguez believes Solo’s Fury, a horse to his outside, tried to savage his horse.

“They all blame Antonio, but I don’t think Antonio did much,” Rodriguez said. “I think everything came from [Solo’s Fury] who tried to bite my horse and everything was a mess. But he was able to put in a nice finish and we were encouraged to see that.”

Rodriguez likes what Antonio of Venice has done in the five weeks since the Thunder Rumble and he likes the idea of keeping him sprinting against New York-breds.

“He looks like he’s in the race he’s supposed to be running in,” Rodriguez said.

Antonio of Venice breaks from post 2 under Franco.

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The other four runners in the field each have just one win on their résumé. Mischief Joke has five second-place finishes from nine starts, including a runner-up in a first-level allowance for statebreds going six furlongs Dec. 15. He twice competed against Antonio of Venice in maiden races earlier in the year, the pair exchanging second- and third-place finishes in the summer.

Dylan Davis pilots Mischief Joke from post 4.

Always a Warrior and Detective Tom finished third and fourth in the same allowance in which Mischief Joke was second.

Big Prankster comes out of a 4 3/4-length maiden win in the mud here Dec. 2.

With only a five-horse field, the Rego Park has been carded as the fourth race on a nine-race card that begins at 12:20 p.m.

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