CARTER HANDICAP (G1) RECAP: Saturday, April 9, 2011

**Please see the attached photo of Morning Line, winner of the Carter Handicap. Credit NYRA, Adam Coglianese**

 

 

Saturday, April 9, 2011

 

MORNING LINE GETS HIS GRADE 1 IN CARTER HANDICAP

 

By John Scheinman

 

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hall of Fame Nick Zito trainer has been a strong believer in the talent of Thoroughbred Legends Racing Stables’ Morning Line, and the Grade 1 defeats he suffered in two of his past three starts left a bitter taste in his mouth.

 

On Saturday, Morning Line made his breakthrough, tracking a sizzling pace for six-eighths of a mile before powering past the grudging leaders deep in the stretch to win the 111^th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Carter Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

 

Ridden by John Velazquez, Morning Line completed the seven-furlong race in 1:21.46, beating runner-up and betting favorite Apriority by 1 ½ lengths. Yawanna Twist ran third.

 

As the 2-1 second choice, Morning Line paid $6.20 for a $2 win bet.

 

“Amazing. I’m very grateful,” said Zito, reached by telephone at Gulfstream Park. “I’m very happy for the horse. He’s lost some tough ones. The Breeders’ Cup Mile was a heartbreaker. The Donn was a heartbreaker. He’s such a well-deserving Grade 1 horse. He beat a top horse in Apriority. It was a great race. He did what a professional horse is supposed to do.”

 

Morning Line entered the Carter off a second-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Donn on February 5 at Gulfstream. The only other time he had run in a race shorter than a mile in his nine-race career was in a six-furlong maiden race at Aqueduct in 2009.

 

Yet Morning Line showed he has abundant speed whether running long or short distances. When the gate opened, 19-1 shot Sunrise Smarty bounded out sharply and immediately went down to the inside and opened a one-length lead, tracked by Yawanna twist and Apriority.

 

The field of eight sailed through a quarter-mile in 22.52 seconds and a half-mile in 44.42. While Yawanna Twist backed off briefly into the turn, Apriority kept the pressure on the leader. Meantime, Morning Line, who had been tracking in fourth, began his advance three-wide off the turn.

 

Apriority put away Sunrise Smarty and fought desperately to hold onto his short lead as Yawanna Twist, Morning Line and Kensei came on.

 

Into the stretch, Velazquez hit Morning Line once on the right with his whip and they caught the leader at the sixteenth pole and pulled away under a vigorous hand ride to win.

 

“I had a very good trip,” Velazquez said. “Everything went pretty much the way we hoped it would. He has a hard time getting around the turns, but once he’s down in the lane, he’ll give you another gear. He finished up well.”

 

Trainer David Fawkes was happy with Apriority’s effort in his first try against graded company.

 

“He ran huge,” Fawkes said. “He chased the speed and did a lot of work early. I’m happy with his performance, just disappointed we didn’t win.”

 

With the victory, Morning Line, a 4-year-old son of Tiznow, won for the fourth time in 10 career starts and became a millionaire, increasing his lifetime earnings to $1,114,800.

 

Before the race, Zito said the Carter would be an ideal steppingstone to the Grade 1, $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap on May 30 at Belmont Park. Asked if the Carter was just a prep race, Zito said, “Come on. It’s the Carter.”

 

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