Fair Grounds: Carroll not rushing Abstraction

NEW ORLEANS – The morning after Abstraction overpowered his opposition in one of the most impressive maiden performances of the Fair Grounds meet, trainer David Carroll was talking about taking a conservative approach with the colt.

On Wednesday, Abstraction showed exceptional talent, but he won’t be rushed into stakes.

Racing around two turns for the first time, Abstraction settled behind the front-runners until the final turn, then zoomed to the lead under little urging from jockey Leandro Goncalves en route to a 9 3/4-length victory. Abstraction ran a mile and 70 yards in 1:42.58 and galloped out strongly. He earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I never gave him his head,” Goncalves said. “He just won how I expected he could win.”

Carroll said: “I don’t know what he beat, but he did everything nice. He’s beautifully bred. He trained like a nice horse last year.”

A son of Pulpit and the Real Quiet mare Andujar, who was a Grade 2 winner, Abstraction is owned and was bred by Leonard Riggio’s My Meadowview Farm. Riggio is chairman of Barnes & Noble.

“I’m just so happy for Mr. Riggio,” Carroll said. “Potentially, he has a nice horse on his hands.”

Abstraction didn’t get to race as a 2-year-old. In September, he was set back by a hairline fracture of his right hind pastern.

“In hindsight, it’s been a blessing,” Carroll said. “It gave him time to grow and mature. We knew he wanted to go long, but we started him short.”

Debuting Feb. 2 in a six-furlong race, Abstraction broke slowly and had a troubled trip before finishing second to Doc Almon, who went on to win an allowance sprint.

An allowance race at Churchill Downs likely is next for Abstraction, Carroll said.

“He won’t run at Keeneland,” he said. “I’d like to run him Derby week, see where he takes us after that.”