Macagone Upsets Artie Schiller Field

Trinity Farm's homebred Macagone did his sire proud Nov. 19 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The only horse in the $150,000 Artie Schiller Stakes sired by the race's namesake, the Bill Mott-trained 5-year-old gelding took an inside route in the stretch after stalking the pace early, and held off a closing run from Blacktype to win by three-quarters of a length. 

Off at odds of 34-1, Macagone hit the wire in 1:36.66 under jockey Kendrick Carmouche on turf rated good to clinch his second stakes win.

"I thought the horse has been doing awfully well," said Mott assistant Leana Willaford. "I was a little surprised to see him at that price, actually. He has races on his back form that showed if he ran his best race today, he could be competitive. It was a very good race."

Favored Heart to Heart set the pace, clicking off fractions of 23.73, :47.95, and 1:12.05 through six furlongs, but lacked a stretch kick and finished fourth, 1 1/4 lengths behind Night Prowler.

"I had a perfect trip," Carmouche said. "There were two speed horses that just happened to be on the lead and my horse had tactical speed, but I wanted to sit on my horse and relax. I fell into the right spot, got a real run and angled out at the top of the lane and he excelled from there and held on."

The winner paid $70, $27, and $14.80 across the board. Blacktype brough $5.90 and $3.90, and Night Prowler delivered $6.20 to show.

Kharafa came in fifth, followed by Vision Perfect, Jay Gatsby, Iron Power, King Kreesa, and Long On Value, to complete the order of finish.

Bred in New York, out of the Skip Away mare Isabel Away, Macagone now has a 7-3-5 record from 23 starts with $462,167 in earnings.