Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Lightly raced Army Mule to get class test in Carter
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – He has raced only twice but has been brilliant both times. If Army Mule is going to run that way again, his connections want him to do it in an important race.
That is why despite having only two races under his belt, Army Mule will run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct. The Carter, contested at seven furlongs, drew a field of 11 and is one of four undercard stakes on the 11-race Wood Memorial program. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.
Six days before Always Dreaming won last year’s Kentucky Derby for owner Vinnie Viola and trainer Todd Pletcher, their Army Mule won a six-furlong maiden race by 8 1/2 lengths at Belmont. Sidelined by an undisclosed issue shortly thereafter, Army Mule didn’t run again until Jan. 31, winning a first-level allowance race by 7 1/2 lengths at Gulfstream. He ran six furlongs in 1:08.87 and earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He’s been brilliant in both races,” Pletcher said. “We felt like off such a big race, let’s try to tackle a big one rather than come back in an allowance race. So, this has been our goal since his comeback race.”
Joe Bravo will ride Army Mule in the Carter, becoming the third different jockey to climb aboard the talented son of Friesan Fire.
Despite the large field, the Carter lacks a true standout. Awesome Slew, a multiple Grade 3 stakes winner who was third in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last November, is the 121-pound highweight. Skyler’s Scramjet, Do Share, and Great Stuff – the 1-2-3 finishers in the Grade 3 Tom Fool – also are in this field.
Completing the lineup are Petrov, still seeking his first stakes success; Favorable Outcome, sixth as the favorite in the Gulfstream Park Sprint; Green Gratto, last year’s upset Carter winner; Fellowship; and Red Dragon Tattoo.
Midnight Disguise in Gazelle
Midnight Disguise will go for her third consecutive stakes victory and her first in a graded event when she heads a field of six entered for Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Midnight Disguise is stretching back out to 1 1/8 miles, the distance at which she might have run her best race when she took the Busanda here on Jan. 25. The big, long-striding filly won the Busher going a one-turn mile here on March 3.
“I was a little nervous shortening her up to the mile, and was really pleased with how she came through that and in that race ran really true through the stretch,” trainer Linda Rice said. “She’s becoming so much more professional.”
Rice had considered also running Split Time, but said that stakes-winning filly spiked a fever and will have to skip the Gazelle.
Completing the field are Smokin paddy lassie ,3 for 3 racing in the Mid-Atlantic region for trainer Eddie Coletti, Sara Street, My Miss Lilly, Virginia Key, and Mo Shopping.
The Gazelle offers qualifying points (100-40-20-10) to its top four finishers for the Kentucky Oaks.
Engage returns in Bay Shore
Engage, the winner of the Grade 3 Futurity at Belmont last October, makes his 2018 debut in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Bay Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.
Trainer Chad Brown shut down Engage following the Futurity, his second win from three starts at 2. Engage, a son of Into Mischief, has had eight workouts at the Palm Meadows training center leading up to his return.
“He’s doing really well,” Brown said. “He’s got to overcome a layoff going seven in a tough race. It’ll be a challenge, but I feel it’s a good race to get his season started in.”
The Bay Shore also drew National Flag, a son of Speightstown who is coming off a sharp first-level allowance win at Gulfstream Park on March 2 for trainer Todd Pletcher. Others entered include Jimmy Winkfield Stakes winner A Different Style, Aqua Bel Sar, Aveenu Malcainu, I’m an Ocala Dude, and Justaholic.
Rodriguez trio in Excelsior
Rudy Rodriguez trains three of the seven horses entered in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.
Control Group, who just won the Mr. Sinatra last Saturday at Aqueduct, would be wheeling back in a week after having his last two races spaced two months apart. Wild About Deb, who won a first-level allowance race here on March 3, and Admiral Blue, fourth in the Henry E. Johnson Memorial at Laurel on March 17, also were entered by Rodriguez.
Harlan Punch, fourth as the 3-5 favorite in the Caixa Eletronica last Saturday, is also entered by David Jacobson to wheel back in a week. He had won three straight, including the Stymie, before last week.
Zanotti, the winner of the Queens County here in December, Discreet Lover, and Backside of the moon complete the field.
◗ Starting Saturday, the New York Racing Association will begin offering a late pick five on the last five races on each card. However, like last year, the wager is restricted to players with a NYRA Bets advancedeposit wagering account or those who play ontrack or at a New York simulcast facility. It is a 50-cent-minimum wager and has a 15 percent takeout.