Post by tootie223 on Jun 3, 2010 7:28:51 GMT -5
Posted: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 12:49 PM
LaPenta going for Triple Crown 'cycle'
by Frank Angst
In baseball, a player hits for the cycle when they slug a home run, triple, double, and single in the same game. Thoroughbred owner Robert LaPenta will try to secure a racing version of the cycle with a victory by Ice Box in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on Saturday.
LaPenta secured a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with Ice Box before finishing third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) with Jackson Bend, a horse he co-owns with Fred Brei.
On Saturday, LaPenta and his trainer, Nick Zito, will try to make it a first, second, and third in this year’s Triple Crown races.
“I think you have to put everything in proper perspective,” Zito said. “As long as they look good, as long as they run good, come back good, hit the board, whatever. If they win, obviously, if they win, you have to thank your lucky stars.”
LaPenta, 64, had partnered with University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino on some horses since 1998. In 2001, LaPenta, who is chairman and president of the personal identity security company L-1 Identity Solutions Inc., bought eight yearlings on his own.
After the Derby, Zito noted that LaPenta has enjoyed a good run in the Triple Crown races. Besides this year’s success, LaPenta won the 2008 Belmont with Da’ Tara, a special victory for the Westport, Connecticut, resident.
LaPenta also has boasted top horses like 2007 two-year-old champion War Pass, 2005 Belmont runner-up Andromeda’s Hero, Grade 1 winner The Cliff’s Edge, and Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man.
“It’s an impressive run for an owner who is not a big partnership or royalty,” Zito said.
After finishing second in the Derby with Ice Box, Zito and LaPenta considered the Preakness before deciding to skip that race to focus on the Belmont.
Da’ Tara prepped for the Belmont with a runner-up finish in the Barbaro Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, three weeks before the Belmont, but Ice Box will be taking a page from the playbook of Zito’s first Belmont winner, Birdstone, who skipped the Preakness after placing eighth in the Derby and win on to upset Smarty Jones’s Triple Crown try in the 2004 Belmont.
Besides Ice Box, who will be installed as the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 1 1/2-mile test, Zito also will send out Dwyer Stakes (G2) winner Fly Down for owner Richard Pell.
Both horses will ship from Saratoga Race Course to Zito’s Belmont barn on Wednesday. They will train there on Thursday and Friday in preparation for Saturday’s race.
Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior staff writer based in Lexington and on location at Belmont Park.
www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2010/June/01/LaPenta-going-for-Triple-Crown-cycle.aspx
LaPenta going for Triple Crown 'cycle'
by Frank Angst
In baseball, a player hits for the cycle when they slug a home run, triple, double, and single in the same game. Thoroughbred owner Robert LaPenta will try to secure a racing version of the cycle with a victory by Ice Box in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on Saturday.
LaPenta secured a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with Ice Box before finishing third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) with Jackson Bend, a horse he co-owns with Fred Brei.
On Saturday, LaPenta and his trainer, Nick Zito, will try to make it a first, second, and third in this year’s Triple Crown races.
“I think you have to put everything in proper perspective,” Zito said. “As long as they look good, as long as they run good, come back good, hit the board, whatever. If they win, obviously, if they win, you have to thank your lucky stars.”
LaPenta, 64, had partnered with University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino on some horses since 1998. In 2001, LaPenta, who is chairman and president of the personal identity security company L-1 Identity Solutions Inc., bought eight yearlings on his own.
After the Derby, Zito noted that LaPenta has enjoyed a good run in the Triple Crown races. Besides this year’s success, LaPenta won the 2008 Belmont with Da’ Tara, a special victory for the Westport, Connecticut, resident.
LaPenta also has boasted top horses like 2007 two-year-old champion War Pass, 2005 Belmont runner-up Andromeda’s Hero, Grade 1 winner The Cliff’s Edge, and Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man.
“It’s an impressive run for an owner who is not a big partnership or royalty,” Zito said.
After finishing second in the Derby with Ice Box, Zito and LaPenta considered the Preakness before deciding to skip that race to focus on the Belmont.
Da’ Tara prepped for the Belmont with a runner-up finish in the Barbaro Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, three weeks before the Belmont, but Ice Box will be taking a page from the playbook of Zito’s first Belmont winner, Birdstone, who skipped the Preakness after placing eighth in the Derby and win on to upset Smarty Jones’s Triple Crown try in the 2004 Belmont.
Besides Ice Box, who will be installed as the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 1 1/2-mile test, Zito also will send out Dwyer Stakes (G2) winner Fly Down for owner Richard Pell.
Both horses will ship from Saratoga Race Course to Zito’s Belmont barn on Wednesday. They will train there on Thursday and Friday in preparation for Saturday’s race.
Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior staff writer based in Lexington and on location at Belmont Park.
www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2010/June/01/LaPenta-going-for-Triple-Crown-cycle.aspx
