Diodoro brings nearly two dozen horses to New York

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Robertino Diodoro has had success in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, and Minnesota. Now, he has his sights set on New York, where he has set up shop with 22 horses for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet that begins Friday.

“New York’s always been on the bucket list,” Diodoro said by phone from the Ocala Breeders’ Sales auction in Florida. “I’ve got some newer clients, and some older clients stepped up to the plate to make it possible to come there. I’m hoping and I’m thinking we have the right group of horses. Time will tell.”

Diodoro will waste no time running his first horse in New York as he sends out Set the Trappe in Friday’s second race, a $16,000 claimer for non-winners of two races. Diodoro claimed Set the Trappe for $25,000 last month at Oaklawn.

Diodoro, the leading trainer at Turf Paradise in Arizona the last three years, will continue to maintain summer strings at Canterbury, Santa Anita, and Prairie Meadows, where he has previously raced during the summer. He said his horses at Belmont are primarily new acquisitions through either the claim box or private purchase. Diodoro claimed 17 horses at the recently concluded Oaklawn Park meet. He also made recent claims at Keeneland, and last Saturday he claimed his first horse, Castaway, at Aqueduct.

“We plan on being aggressive at the entry box and be aggressive at the claim box, too,” Diodoro said. “We’re planning on having lots of action anyway.”

Diodoro was the second-leading trainer at Oaklawn with 31 wins, 10 behind perennial leader Steve Asmussen. Among his victories was the Grade 2 Oaklawn Park Handicap with Inside Straight, a New York-bred gelding once trained by Todd Pletcher.

Inside Straight is at Belmont and is possible for the Grade 1, $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap on June 10.

“My assistant told me the horse is training unbelievable,” Diodoro said. “He’s floating over the track. We are going to consider the Met Mile. Of course, he is a New York-bred so we’ll look at several different stakes.”

Another horse Diodoro has in New York is the maiden Tizfun. He claimed the gelding for $40,000 on March 5 and nearly won a maiden special with him at 45-1 on April 15.