Cicciobello and Jose Lezcano triumph in Saturday’s Thunder Rumble. NYRA Photo/Joe Labozzetta.
By Paul Halloran
Derek Ryan figured Cicciobello would be forward in Saturday’s New York Stallion Series $125,000 Thunder Rumble Stakes at Aqueduct, even though he was cutting back from 1 1/8 miles to 7 furlongs.
“Usually he breaks running, so I figured he was going to be up close to the pace,” the trainer said. “It looked like he missed the break and it worked out good.”
Cicciobello did indeed break last and trailed the eight-horse field after a quarter-mile in a brisk :22.34, with Antonio of Venice and Light Man laying it down on the front end. The 5-year-old gelding by Bellamy Road out of the Eddington mare Spa Sunrise was still seventh after a half-mile, but the :45.44 split indicated the race might set up for closers and that is exactly what happened.
Jose Lezcano, riding Cicciobello for the first time, started moving on the turn and was forced to go wide when General Banker, also closing fast, drifted out in the stretch. Cicciobello was able to overcome the ground loss and outduel General Banker to the wire, winning by a neck at 20-1 for his first stakes score. The final time was 1:23.84.
“On paper, I thought there would be a lot of speed, so I let him break and not rush him,” Lezcano said. “At the three-eighths pole, I let him go and he started to pick it up. He came with a run . . . my horse gave me what I need to win the race.”
Bred by owner Massimino Rapuano’s My Way Stable, Cicciobello is the sixth foal and second winner out of Spa Sunrise, who won twice in a 15-race career. Her Sunrise Saturday won once in nine starts. Cicciobello improved his career record to 16-4-1-1 with $248,410 in earnings.
“He is a very honest and hard-knocking horse,” Ryan said. “He is a cool horse to be around. He is about 17 and 2 (hands/inches), and a big, gentle giant. I’m glad to get the win.”
Cicciobello broke his maiden as a 4-year-old last year, won a state-bred allowance at Saratoga and ran a respectable fourth in the Empire Classic Stakes. He lost his first three starts this year, but ran well in finishing fourth in the Evan Shipman at Saratoga. After winning an allowance at Monmouth, he ran last by 26 lengths in the Empire Classic.
“He gives you his all,” winning owner Rapuano said. “I saw him come flying and when he got the lead I said, ‘This is ours.’”
Bellamy Road, who won the 2005 Wood Memorial by 17½ lengths and ran seventh in the Kentucky Derby, formerly stood at Irish Hill and Duchess Views Farms in Stillwater. New York’s leading sire of winners four times, he sired 2018 New York-bred Horse of the Year Diversify. He is retired at Old Friends in Kentucky.
