Congratulations to Jena Antonucci for this memorable moment in sports!
Fifty years after Secretariat made history with the fastest running time in the Belmont Stakes, more horse racing history was made Saturday. Arcangelo won the 155th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, and his trainer Jena Antonucci made history as the first female trainer to ever win a Triple Crown race. The sport’s greatest horse was owned by a woman — Penny Chenery. Equally timely, it was 30 years ago that jockey Julie Krone became the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race, when she rode Colonial Affair to the 1993 Belmont Stakes finish line. Jena Antonucci will now be listed in the record books alongside Penny Krone, the only female jockey to ever win a Triple Crown race. Although women are common around the track, many working as exercise riders, the sport remains a heavily male dominant profession. Only 10 other women have even trained a Belmont entrant in the race’s 155 years.
A Florida native, Antonuci has worked in every facet of horse racing. She showed horses, worked as an equine veterinary assistant and eventually joined legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ operation. Along with training horses, the 47-year-old runs HorseOlogy, a sort of retirement home for horses after their racing careers end.
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