Bring Theband Home leads all the way in Troy, brings Castellano back to winner's circle
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano has been riding for nearly 30 years and he can’t remember ever going nearly a month between victories. When he climbed aboard Bring Theband Home for Sunday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Troy Stakes at Saratoga, Castellano hadn’t won since the last time he climbed aboard Bring Theband Home in the Harvey Pack Stakes on July 4.
The losing streak had reached 48, 0 for 37 at the Saratoga meet that began July 10.
Nothing ends a slump like a fast horse and Bring Theband Home is certainly that. After nearly setting a world record in the Harvey Pack - he ran 5 1/2 furlongs in 59.90 seconds - Bring Theband Home came back with another strong performance Sunday, leading every step of the way to win the Troy by 1 1/2 lengths over the late-running Twenty Six Black. It was a length back to Determined Kingdom in third.
Afterward, it was almost visible the weight that was lifted off Castellano’s shoulders.
“Things didn’t go right in the beginning, all [athletes] face that challenge in any sport, and me as well,” said Castellano, a four-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey. “I believe that I never faced a challenge like that. I’ve been strong, competitive, work hard every single day. Mentally, I try to reset a little bit and be competitive.”
Even Mark Casse, the trainer of Bring Theband Home, said he felt pressure for Castellano.
“I love Javier, I feel for him,” Casse said. “I’ve been there, done that. I felt more pressure today for Javier. I had his wife and kids there, I wanted them to be there.”
It’s easier to be competitive when you ride the fastest horse in a race. As he did in the Harvey Pack, Bring Theband Home broke on top, this time setting fast fractions of 21.38 seconds for the quarter, 43.39 for the half, and covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:00.38 over firm ground. Bring Theband Home, a 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief, owned and bred by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation, returned $3.30 as the odds-on choice.
It’s been noted that Bring Theband Home frequently switches leads in his races. It doesn’t seem to bother him.
“It seems to me that’s his style, that’s what he does,” Castellano said. “Last time, he almost set a world record and that’s what he did. Every single step of the race he was switching leads back and forth. He feels good, he feels healthy; fast horse, he was able to relax on the lead, he’s not a run-off horse.”
Bring Theband Home has now won two straight stakes and is now a Grade 2 winner, which should be enough to get him into the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1. The gelding is now 6 for 13 in his career - 3 for 3 at Saratoga - running two of his fastest races in the last month. He earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure for the Harvey Pack, in which he ran 5 1/2 furlongs in 59.90 seconds.
“He really thrives up here, he looks magnificent,” Casse said. “I don’t think he ever looked better. I was a little worried about some regression and we probably got a little today, but it was good enough.”
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