Shipper Mandate ($91.50) notches first stakes victory with Artie Schiller
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When Robert Johnston, trainer of Mandate, saw the entries for Saturday’s $150,000 Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct he saw the names of fellow trainers Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, and Shug McGaughey and admitted to being a little bit intimidated.
He told owner Bruno Schickedanz “you got me up against all these big guys,” Johnston said.
At the end of the Artie Schiller, it was Johnston standing in the winner’s circle as Mandate, the rank outsider at 44-1 in the nine-horse field, rallied past Tell Your Daddy to post a 1 3/4-length victory in the one-mile stakes race at Aqueduct. Tell Your Daddy finished second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Flavius, the 2-1 favorite.
Rinalidi finished fourth, followed by March to the Arch, Bodecream, Breaking the Rules, Olympic Runner, and En Wye Cee.
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The win was the first in a stakes for Mandate, who Schickedanz claimed for $25,000 along with trainer Wayne Potts off of Todd Pletcher in May. It was also the first stakes win for Johnston, who grew up the son of Canadian-based trainer C.W. Johnston before going to work for Mike DePaulo.
Johnston, who ran Schickedanz’s farm in Ocala for eight years, went out on his own in 2008.
“Been in this business since I could walk and my dad was a trainer, this was really amazing,” said Johnston, 48.
Since Schickedanz and Potts claimed him, Mandate went 0 for 5 in claiming races on the New York Racing Association circuit before Schickedanz moved him to Johnston, who is based at Penn National.
Johnston ran him in a starter allowance on Oct. 10 at Laurel Park, a race Mandate won by 3 1/4 lengths in a solid time of 1:40.97 and earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He ran an impressive time last time over there and the boss wanted to come back for the big race,” Johnston said.
On Saturday, Mandate, under Andrew Wolfsont, was ninth entering the first turn, but gradually moved up down the backside as Rinaldi set fractions of 24.67 seconds for the quarter, 49.83 for the half and 1:14.41 for six furlongs.
Around the far turn, Mandate moved closer and was third turning for home. Tell Your Daddy, who moved into second under John Velazquez, had to work hard to wrest the lead from Rinaldi, and by the time he did that, Mandate overtook him and edged clear for the victory.
Mandate, a son of Blame who sold for $200,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in 2018, covered the mile in 1:39.07 over good ground following mid-day rain, and returned $91.50 as the longest shot in the field.
Wolfsont, who rides primarily at Penn National, said he wanted to give Mandate a similar trip as he had in his last win at Laurel.
“As soon as we straightened out on the backside, I could feel they were going way too slow,” Wolfsont said. “I just took him out, let him drag me alongside. Going into the second turn, I felt him going nice and easy, so I let him carry me to the front. I felt like I was moving too soon, but he was doing it so easily. I just let him be happy and we went on our way.”
Johnston said Mandate could be a candidate for the $95,000 Claiming Crown Jewel on Dec. 4 at Gulfstream Park.