Al and Bill Ulwelling’s Ontario-bred MANSETTI [post 2, Sahin Civaci] will tackle seven rivals in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct racetrack in New York. The one-mile dirt race is around one turn and is the first Kentucky Derby prep race of 2025 on the NYRA circuit offering 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying Derby points to the top five finishers.
The Jerome is also the second-oldest stakes race in the United Stakes behind only the Travers Stakes (G1). The first Jerome was run in 1866 at Jerome Park.
Trained by Kevin Attard, the Collected bay colt is coming off a win in the $150,000 Clarendon Stakes against Canadian breds on Nov. 24 on Woodbine’s Tapeta. The colt added blinkers and set the pace in the six-furlong Tapeta sprint holding clear for a 1 1/4-length score.
“Physically, he’s built more like a sprinter. He’s a good size for a younger horse, but he does show a tendency to be a little bit headstrong,” said Attard. “Stretching out, he’s going to have to relax, and we’ve been working on that. Hopefully, as he grows and matures, he will figure that out.”
The Clarendon score avenged a prominent sixth in the seven-furlong Listed Display on October 13 over the same surface, which followed a gate-to-wire debut victory over the Clarendon course and distance on September 26.
“We were pretty high on him first time out and he ran to what we expected, and then the Display seemed like the next logical step. In hindsight, it was probably a little bit of too much too soon for a young horse,” Attard said. “I don’t think he handled it that well. We got him back to the barn and re-grouped and gave him a little more time. He responded well with a couple good works and showed up with a good performance in the Clarendon.”
Bred by Jim Rome’s Jungle Racing, Mansetti, out of the Sky Mesa mare Gidget Girl, was a $40,000 purchase at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training. He is a half-brother to dual stakes-winner Straight Up G and his second dam is Surfer Girl, who was Group 1-placed in her native Brazil.
Students of Canadian racing may remember that Canadian-breds have done well in the Jerome Stakes. NAVY PAGE, bred by E.P. Taylor took the 1953 editions, the great AFLEET won it in 1987 and Knob Hill Farms’ SCHOSSBERG, like Afleet, trained by Phil England, won it in 1993.
In 2207, Shadwell’s DAAHER won the Jerome.
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