Mandate Carries Out 44-1 Upset in Artie Schiller
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coglianese Photos/Dom Napolitano
Mandate wins the Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Mandate rallied from last-of-nine under Andrew Wolfsont to score a 44-1 upset Nov. 13 in the $150,000 Artie Schiller Stakes, a one-mile inner turf test for 3-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Owned by Bruno Schickedanz, the victory provided a first career stakes win for both Mandate and trainer Robert J. W. Johnston.
"This is amazing," Johnston said. "We work hard every day. I've been in the business since I could walk. My dad (C.R. Johnston) was a trainer and this is amazing being here and watching these guys that I've looked up to all my life. I told my boss, 'You got me up against all these big guys!'. I've been with Mr. Schickedanz all my life. I ran his farm for eight years, so this is great to do together."
Mandate, who exited the outermost post, could see them all heading into the first turn as Rinaldi , with Luis Saez up, set splits of :24.67, :49.83, and 1:14.41 over the good going.
Tell Your Daddy , winner of the Bernard Baruch Stakes (G2T) in September at Saratoga Race Course, assumed a stalking position under Hall of Famer John Velazquez and advanced outside rivals into the final turn with Mandate following his lead. Tell Your Daddy reeled in Rinaldi, who faded in the final sixteenth, but Mandate continued to find more and powered outside of Tell Your Daddy to win by 1 3/4-lengths in a final time of 1:39.07.
"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."
Tell Your Daddy completed the exacta by 1 1/4-lengths over late-running show finisher Flavius , the favorite. Rinaldi, March to the Arch , Bodecream , Breaking the Rules , Olympic Runner , and En Wye Cee rounded out the order of finish. Field Pass and main-track only entrants Our Last Buck and Bal Harbour were scratched.
A 4-year-old son of Blame , Mandate was making his stakes debut out of a rallying starter allowance score Oct. 10 at Laurel Park.
Jockey Andrew Wolfsont smiles while guiding Mandate to the winner's circle after the Artie Schiller Stakes
The victory marked the fifth career stakes score for Wolfsont and first outside the state of Pennsylvania.
"I'm on cloud nine," Wolfsont said. "This is the biggest stakes race I've won in my career. I won a few other state-bred stakes up in Pennsylvania, so this is pretty special for me."
Bred in Kentucky by International Equities Holding, Mandate banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 18-5-4-0. The longest price on the board, he paid $91.50 for a $2 win ticket.
Mandate becomes the first stakes winner out of the dual-winning Empire Maker mare Bonnie's Empire . She also has produced two other winners, one in Russia, the other in Panama. The mare also has a Hard Spun yearling colt.
Tom McGreevy, agent for Michael C. Stinson, purchased Mandate for $200,000 from the Gainesway consignment at the 2018 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland. Stinson campaigned Mandate with trainer Todd Pletcher through May 2, when trainer Wayne Potts claimed him for Schickedanz for $25,000. He then made five starts for Potts before Johnston began training the gelding in September.