Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Contact: John Scheinman
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MORNING LINE SEEKS GRADE 1 BREAKTHROUGH IN CARTER
The Zabeel Racing International colt turned back his early challengers in a punishing pace battle and then opened up a clear lead in the stretch before Dakota Phone ran him down on the outside to win on the wire.
The heartbreaking defeat began a three-race pattern in which Morning Line did all the work up front only to be overtaken by a stretch runner in the final stages. Zito hopes that frustrating streak ends Saturday when Morning Line takes on 11 others in a contentious 111th renewal of the Grade 1, $250,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The prestigious seven-furlong event for 3-year-olds and up is the marquee supporting stakes race to the Grade 1, $1 million Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial.
“That Breeders’ Cup Mile was insane,” Zito said this week. “That other horse that won (Dakota Phone) ran the best race of his life. I am frustrated. We did all the running.”
After a two-month rest, Morning Line returned to the races in the one-turn, one-mile Grade 3 Hal’s Hope at
For the Carter, Morning Line cuts back from 1 1/8 miles to seven furlongs and still figures to be a principal pace player. The colt worked a half-mile in 47.40 seconds on March 31 at Gulfstream, and Zito expects a strong run.
“Absolutely. The horse has a tremendous heart, as you can imagine,” said Zito, who was happy to draw outside in post position 10. “The Breeders’ Cup Mile, the Donn — he never ceases to amaze me. He is a terrific, terrific horse.”
Morning Line’s biggest threat might come from another horse shipping north from
After losing the Sunshine Millions Sprint by a head in January, Apriority returned March 5 in an optional-claiming race and missed the
In 11 starts, Apriority has never faced graded company, and Fawkes considers the Carter his acid test.
“It’s a huge step,” Fawkes said. “If you watch the Sunshine Millions race it looks like he lost his footing on the backside a little bit. It cost him; I know it did. [In his last start] he stumbled but didn’t lose his footing.”
In his final work for the Carter, Apriority breezed in company with top handicap runner Duke of Mischief, and Fawkes said, “You couldn’t separate them. I got the last quarter in 24 1/5. That’s sensational at Calder. They just hand-rode them home.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher entered two for owner Mike Repole, led by win machine Calibrachoa, a $40,000 claim last November who has since reeled off consecutive victories in the
To ensure a fast pace, Pletcher also has entered the speedster Have You Ever.
“The Carter is obviously a tougher assignment than what he’s been in,” Pletcher said of Calibrachoa, who has rallied strongly from off the pace in his three stakes wins. “A lot of high-quality horses are shipping in. It’s the logical next step based on what he’s been doing.”
As for Have You Ever, Pletcher said, “He’s strictly in there as a pacesetter for Calibrachoa. He will be sent to the lead.”
Another potential pace player in the Carter is West Point Thoroughbreds, Donald Brooks and Nick Cammarano’s Sunrise Smarty, who put it all together in his most recent start and scored an authoritative five-length allowance victory February 26 on the inner dirt track at Aqueduct.
Trainer Michael Hushion has found Sunrise Smarty to be nothing but a puzzle. Of his two starts prior to the win, Hushion said, “I was expecting him to win, and he didn’t. The last race, he just showed up; I don’t know why. He always showed me in the morning he was a very fast horse.”
Trainer Steve Asmussen shipped Stonestreet Stables and Gulf Coast Farms’ Kensei from Santa Anita for the Carter after the 5-year-old returned from more than three months off to finish an impressive second to Misremembered in the Santana Mile.
The versatile Kensei has been a top-class performer, winning the Grade 2 Dwyer at
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. has entered three horses — Yawanna Twist, Laysh Laysh Laysh and Be Bullish.
Yawanna Twist, owned by Steel Your Face Stables, has shown tremendous promise in his seven-race career. He is undefeated in three one-turn starts and finished second last year in the Grade 3 Gotham, the Grade 3 Illinois Derby, and a close-up fourth in the Grade 1 Preakness. In his most recent start, he finished second behind rising star Inherit the Gold in the Kings Point.
Vincent Scuderi’s Laysh Laysh Laysh returns to Aqueduct after two strong races at Laurel Park, a 2¼-length victory in the Native Dancer and then a loss by a neck in the Grade 2 General George Handicap at the Carter distance of seven furlongs.
Dutrow also entered Be Bullish, who won the Mr. Nasty Stakes on April 1 at Aqueduct and finished a close-up second to Giant Ryan on Wednesday afternoon in the Hamlet Stakes.
Long shot Fastus Cactus, owned and trained by Naipaul Chatterpaul, has proven to be a terrific $14,000 claim. Although 0-for-4 this year, the gelded son of Cactus Ridge placed second last out behind Calibrachoa in the Tom Fool at 54-1.
Rounding out the field are Anthony Calabrese’s More Than a Reason, coming off a close-up second in the Stymie on February 26, and Independence War, a recent claim by trainer Ramon Preciado. Independence War finished second, beaten a half-length by Calibrachoa, in the Toboggan.
The field for the $250,000 Carter Handicap:
| Program No. | PP | Horse | Jockey | Wgt | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | 9 | Calibrachoa (KY) | R. Dominguez | 118 | T. Pletcher | 3-1 |
| 1a | 11 | Have You Ever (MD) | V. Santiago | 112 | T. Pletcher | 3-1 |
| 2 | 1 | More Than a Reason (KY) | E. Castro | 112 | R. Persaud | 50-1 |
| 3 | 2 | Laysh Laysh Laysh (KY) | C.H. Velasquez | 114 | R. Dutrow Jr. | 8-1 |
| 4 | 3 | Kensei (KY) | E. Prado | 116 | S. Asmussen | 8-1 |
| 5 | 4 | Be Bullish (NY) | J. Alvarado | 115 | R. Dutrow Jr. | 15-1 |
| 6 | 5 | Yawanna Twist (NY) | M.J. Luzzi | 115 | R. Dutrow Jr. | 12-1 |
| 7 | 6 | Apriority (FL) | L. Saez | 116 | D. Fawkes | 7-2 |
| 8 | 7 | | D. Cohen | 114 | R.Preciado | 30-1 |
| 9 | 8 | | C.C. Lopez | 112 | M. Hushion | 15-1 |
| 10 | 10 | Morning Line (KY) | J.R. Velazquez | 119 | N. Zito | 5-2 |
| 11 | 12 | Fastus Cactus (FL) | J.L. Espinoza | 113 | N. Chatterpaul | 30-1 |
