Antonio of Venice captures roughly run Great White Way division of N.Y. Stallion Series

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series at Aqueduct was a roughly run race with a controversial ending. When the result was made official, Antonio of Venice, who crossed the wire first by three-quarters of a length, was able to keep his victory, but the runner-up, Brick Ambush, was disqualified from second and placed last for alleged interference.

In reality, a case could be made that Antonio of Venice, ridden by Manny Franco, came off the rail at the quarter pole, which caused both The Big Torpedo, who finished fourth under Javier Castellano, and Solo’s Fury, who finished last of 12 under Jose Lezcano, to be steadied by their riders.

After the incident at the quarter pole, Antonio of Venice kept on advancing along the rail, was tipped to the outside by Franco, and was able to run by both Brick Ambush and the pacesetting Heavyweight Champs for the victory. Brick Ambush, under Junior Alvarado, finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of Heavyweight Champs, who held third after setting the pace and finished a length in front of The Big Torpedo.

The stewards posted the inquiry sign, and Castellano said he claimed foul though the stewards said that foul claim was never relayed to them.

Castellano said that at the quarter pole both Antonio of Venice and Solo’s Fury “squeezed me and I was right in the middle, no place to go. I had to eat it. Basically, in my mind, at that moment, I just tried to hold it together and don’t go down.”

After about a 10-minute review, the stewards decided to disqualify Brick Ambush from second and place him behind Solo’s Fury, though even that decision was unclear to those watching via simulcast. There was at least a minute during which the inquiry sign was removed but the order of finish still read 1-12-3-7 on the television. Before it became official, the order of finish was changed to 1-3-7-6.

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Braulio Baeza Jr., the New York Gaming Commission steward, said “the outside horse [Brick Ambush] caused the pressure.”

Baeza was in the stand with Jockey Club Steward Samantha Randazzo and NYRA alternate steward Juan Dominguez. The stewards declined further comment, saying they’ve already heard from Dean Reeves, the owner of Brick Ambush, who suggested he may appeal the disqualification of his horse, which cost him $100,000 in purse money.

Danny Gargan, the trainer of Brick Ambush, watched the race from Florida. He said he was “dumbfounded” by the decision. “I don’t understand it.”

With the disqualification of Brick Ambush, it meant that Rudy Rodriguez was the trainer of both the first- and second-place finishers.

Antonio of Venice, a son of Laoban, won for the second time in six starts. He hadn’t run since a fourth-place finish in the Aspirant Stakes on Sept. 23 at Finger Lakes.

Rodriguez said he probably ran the horse too much earlier in the year, but that he was coming in relatively fresh. The fact he took some dirt while racing a close-up third on the rail and was involved in some bumping at the quarter pole and still won impressed Rodriguez.

“It was the first time he come from behind,” Rodriguez said. “Manny said they push all over him, he never got comfortable, he was bouncing around back and forth, and he kept fighting, so that was good for us.”

Franco said when he moved Antonio of Venice to the outside at the quarter pole, “Javier wasn’t there yet. He was trying to get there.”

Antonio of Venice covered the seven furlongs in 1:24.40 and returned $14.40 as the third choice in the 12-horse field.

Heavyweight Champs, a first-time starter by Solomini, made all the fractions under Ruben Silvera and did well to finish third, before being moved up to second.

“I thought he ran the way he would run and I knew the seven-eighths would be tough for him,” Rodriguez said. “I wish I could have had one race under his belt. He’s going to be a nice horse.”

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