ELMONT, N.Y. - Fifty years ago, Secretariat made Penny Chenery the First Lady of Thoroughbred racing with his Triple Crown sweep that culminated with a performance in the Belmont Stakes that still resonates - and was celebrated mightily this week. Saturday, at Belmont Park, there was another first involving a woman, that being Jena Antonucci who became the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when Arcangelo beat defending 2-year-old champion Forte by 1 1/2 lengths in the 155th Belmont Stakes before an announced crowd of 48,089. Ten women had previously run horses in the Belmont Stakes, the best finish a second by the Diane Carpenter-trained Kingpost in 1988. Antonucci had never before run a horse in a Grade 1 stakes - let alone a Triple Crown race - until Saturday. Antonucci, 47, who began her association with horses in the show world, has been training horses since 2010. This was her 162nd victory. “Just overcoming the adversities,” an emotional Antonucci said about this historic achievement. “You go through growing, you go through career, you take it on the chin, you fight for that spot and you feel you have to prove your worth. Horses don’t care who you are. They know who you are.” :: Get ready for summer racing with a DRF Formulator Quarterly PP plan Antonucci credited owner Jon Ebbert, whom she met the day before they purchased Arcangelo - known then as a yearling son of Arrogate - for $35,000 at the Keeneland sale in 2021. “He gave a girl a chance,” Antonucci said. Ebbert, who bought his first horse in 2008 for $3,700, said he liked being in a smaller barn where a trainer can give a horse the necessary attention to detail. “She will try her best for each owner and in bigger barns, I don’t think it’s the same,” said Ebbert, who turns 40 on Tuesday. “With bigger trainers, I think they pick and choose which owner and favor certain owners, because I’ve gone to those barns. Jena, every owner is her friend and [she] treats them all with respect and gratitude.” Arcangelo was ridden to victory Saturday by Javier Castellano. It was his first career win in the Belmont with his 15th mount. Five weeks ago, Castellano won his first Kentucky Derby in his 16th attempt, aboard Mage, who did not run in the Belmont after finishing third in the Preakness. Thus, Castellano became the first jockey to win Triple Crown races on different horses in the same year since Calvin Borel did it in 2009. That year, Borel won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird and took off that horse to ride the filly Rachel Alexandra to victory over Mine That Bird in the Preakness. “Thrilled and happy the way everything unfolded this year,” said Castellano, who is a two-time Preakness winner. “Win the Kentucky Derby and now win the Belmont Stakes, those two big Triple Crown races have been missing in my career. Not anymore.” Arcangelo entered the Belmont off a win in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes here on May 13. He had just one previous win from three starts before that narrow victory over Bishops Bay. It wasn’t until after that victory that Ebbert and Antonucci really honed in on the Belmont, and it cost Ebbert $50,000 to supplement Arcangelo to the race as he was not nominated by either of the first two Triple Crown deadlines (Jan. 28 and March 27). Arcangelo had given signs in his training this week that he was developing rapidly. On Tuesday, he worked five furlongs in 1:02.47, a work that was not planned but that was faster than his designated workout in 1:03.18 on May 31. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  In the Belmont, Arcangelo was a bit aggressive early, dragging Castellano to within one length behind the leaders, National Treasure and Tapit Shoes. Castellano was able to get the horse a little bit off the pace during the second quarter. Midway up the backside, Castellano had Arcangelo between Tapit Shoes and Hit Show, just behind the pacesetting National Treasure, who was coming off a front-running victory in the Preakness and appeared to be cruising under John Velazquez. Castellano said he wanted to go outside - most of Saturday’s dirt winners came wide in the stretch - but he had Hit Show, Angel of Empire, and Tapit Trice to his outside and had to keep his position along the rail. Arcangelo drew on even terms with National Treasure leaving the three-furlong pole. Arcangelo battled with National Treasure until the three-sixteenths pole when he began to draw clear. Arcangelo had a 3 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole, and despite drifting out several paths in the stretch, he got to the wire first. “I had to move a little bit early to secure my spot, after that he did it himself,” Castellano said. “Turning for home, the way he finished, amazing. Very proud of the horse.” Arcangelo covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:29.23 and returned $17.80. He earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. Forte, scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to a bruised foot, was attempting to win the Belmont off a 10-week layoff. An up-close fifth early, Forte dropped back under Irad Ortiz Jr. only to rally widest of all - he was seven wide in the stretch - to nose out his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate, Tapit Trice, for second. Ortiz said not only did Forte lose position, “but then I had to go around,” he said. “I feel like he wasn’t going forward where I was so I had to try something else, we hit the clear and he started going forward. “I had to go a little wide, I think the winner cut the corner, he was best today,” Ortiz added. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Luis Saez said Tapit Trice was very wide down the backstretch and only inside of Forte in the stretch. Still, Saez felt his horse had every chance to win. “Right at the three-eighths I started making a little move, he kind of took a little while to get going, but I felt like he was coming, he tried pretty hard,” Saez said. Tapit Trice finished three-quarters of a length in front of the Brad Cox-trained duo of Hit Show and Angel of Empire, who dead-heated for fourth. They were followed by National Treasure, Il Miracolo, Red Route One, and Tapit Shoes. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.