McPeek said Atigun and Unstoppable U did well in the Belmont Stakes
Trainer Kenneth McPeek sent out two long shots in the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on the Big Sandy on 9 June, 2012, hoping for a serious upset. The upset didn’t come, but the two colts, who looked out of it on paper, did put up a fight and in the end managed respectable finishes in the longest, and the most difficult race of the Triple Crown.
Shortleaf Stable owned, Atigun, was impressive throughout the race, as he broke swiftly under jockey Julien Leparoux, and trailed the moderate fractions set by the pace setter, Paynter, who led the most part of the race.
The 3-year-old Istan colt managed a third place finish, only when he showed that he has a bigger engine than most of the participants in the race, as he pulled away to challenge Paynter and Union Rags in the final furlong, but couldn’t keep up.
On the other hand, the lightly raced Magdalena Racing and Mojallali Stables owned, Unstoppable U after a win in his maiden at first attempt and an allowance/optional claimer win at 1 mile at Belmont Park was sent straight to the Belmont Stakes.
The Kentucky bred son of Exchange Rate, out of mare Naseem by Point Given, Unstoppable U made some noise early in the race by making key positions his, but the 1 ½ mile distance took its toll on Unstoppable U, as the colt finish sixth on the day.
Atigun was sent as the 20 to 1 longshot, and on the other hand, Unstoppable U was sent slightly better at 12 to 1.
“Our horses came out of the race fine,” McPeek said on Sunday. “We asked a lot out of Unstoppable U,” who tracked the pace of Paynter for a mile in only the third start of his career. “He ran a great race. We'll look for a Grade 2 or Grade 3 for him, [or] possibly the Haskell.”
“Atigun came out fine, too,” he said. “We’ll probably go to the Jim Dandy and the ultimate goal will be the Travers.”
Jim Dandy is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga, while the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational is also run at about the same distance.
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