Artie Schiller’s Macagone wins sire’s namesake stakes

Artie Schiller’s Macagone fittingly won the Aqueduct stakes named after his sire on Saturday with a determined stretch run, defeating Blacktype (FR) by three-quarters of a length in the $150,000 contest on the turf.

Macagone is now a two-time stakes winner in 2016 and one of seven stakes winners this year by Artie Schiller, whose progeny have earned more than $3.4 million this year.

Macagone had an ideal spot early on, in third along the rail just off a pair of dueling pacesetters. Macagone finally came off the rail coming into the stretch, passing Heart to Heart shortly after, then held off Blacktype to get the mile in 1:36.66 on the “good” turf.

“I had a perfect trip,” said rider Kendall Carmouche. “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. I’d like to thank Leana [trainer Bill Mott’s assistant Leana Willaford] and the whole crew for putting me on the horse.” 

Owned by her breeder Trinity Farm, Macagone is now 7-3-5 in 23 starts and has earned $462,167.