Thursday, June 15, 2023

My Top Three-Year-Old Horses Beginning the 2023 Summer Racing Season

Forte

As a two-year-old colt, Forte won both the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 8 and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 4 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. He made his debut as a three-year-old at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 4 before winning the Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 1. Forte was scratched in the Kentucky Derby and finish second in the Belmont Stakes for the 2023 Triple Crown series.

Mage

After racing at Gulfstream Park in the early part of the year in 2023, Mage warmed up for racing at Churchill Down in Louisville by winning the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Kentucky-bred colt went on the finish third in the Preakness Stakes on May 20. Mage did not participate in the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes.

Arcangelo

Arcangelo won the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 13 as a prep race for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. As a son of Arrogate, he recorded a HRN speed figure of 99 for that race. Trained by Jena Antonucci, he placed first in the longest and toughest stakes race of the Triple Crown.

National Treasure

Trained by Bob Baffert, National Treasure won the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes as the second jewel in the 2023 Triple Crown. As a son of Quality Road, he raced as Santa Anita Park for the early part of his three-year-old career. National Treasure finished sixth in the Belmont Stakes to round out his Triple Crown series.

Angel of Empire

Bred in Pennsylvania, Angel of Empire was third in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont Stakes. Trained by Brad Cox, he won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 1 as the major prep race for the 2023 Triple Crown. Angel of Empire was a son of Classic Empire with Armony’s Angel as a dam.

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