Astronaut ($32) rolls in Red Smith as Carmouche has four-win day

Earlier this week, jockey Kendrick Carmouche said he was excited about the Thanksgiving feast his talented wife was putting together as it was to include some of the dishes he knew from growing up in Louisiana.

The celebration from Thursday, it turned out, carried over to Saturday.

Carmouche won four races on the Aqueduct card, including the featured Grade 2, $300,000 Red Smith with Astronaut.

Astronaut ($32) pulled away for a three-length victory over Highest Honors. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third to Cold Hard Cash.

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The Red Smith was one of three stakes on the card. The Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap went to Greeley and Ben and Bat Flip captured the $120,000 Central Park.

Astronaut made all the pace Saturday, setting fractions of 24.81 seconds for the opening quarter, 49.82 for the half-mile, 1:14.98 for six furlongs and 1:39.15 for the mile. He went on to cover the 1 3/8 miles on firm turf in 2:14.

“I wanted to put him into the race and see if they would let me walk the dog a little bit and when he came off the bit around the second turn, I knew I was a winner,” Carmouche told officials with the New York Racing Association. “I just had to make sure I was still going easy.”

Tom Albertrani trains Astronaut, who went over $500,000 in career earnings with the victory.

“We were looking for the lead today,” Albertrani told NYRA. “We stayed close last time and we thought we might be able to steal it on the lead today. Kendrick did the right thing and made the right choice.”

Astronaut was winning his second stakes behind the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap. Astronaut is now 3 for 14 for earnings of $511,860. The son of Quality Road races for John M. O’Connor.

Carmouche’s other wins on the card came in the first with Luna Loca ($9.30), the second with Patient Capital ($6.30), and the 10th with Mariachi ($3.80). The Red Smith was his second graded victory over the holiday weekend, as he captured the Grade 3, $175,000 Comely on Friday aboard Sixtythreecaliber.

Racing resumes Sunday with a card led by the Discovery.

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