Army Mule taking big step up in Carter Handicap

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 that starts at 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.