Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf: Carson's Run remains under the radar
?q=100)
Formal research studies suggest the COVID-19 pandemic warped people’s sense of time. Take the Summer Stakes, for instance. The race was run at Woodbine on Sept. 16, not long ago at all, but it feels like the winner, Carson’s Run, has been forgotten.
While Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf prep races subsequently have been run in New York, Kentucky, and California, Carson’s Run has quietly gone about his business at Saratoga, his daily training overseen by Miguel Clement, the son of and assistant to trainer Christophe Clement.
“He seems to have trained forwardly coming out of Woodbine,” the elder Clement said Wednesday. “He’s doing very well, looks good, and as of now the Breeders’ Cup is the plan.”
Carson’s Run, by Cupid, won his debut July 29 over a route of ground in a Saratoga maiden turf race. He came back with a close second there in the With Anticipation Stakes before moving considerably forward winning the Summer, a one-turn mile, by 2 1/4 lengths. Second-place finisher My Boy Prince, another intended Juvenile Turf runner, came back to win the restricted Cup and Saucer Stakes on Oct. 14 by more than four lengths.
Carson’s Run earned an 80 Beyer Speed Figure in the Grade 1 Summer, solid but hardly spectacular for the class level. Still, that is the highest 2-year-old turf Beyer in North America so far this year, and one would imagine he’ll have as good a chance as any North American horse in the Juvenile Turf.
Carson’s Run has made his last two starts over turf with give in the ground, but a faster-playing Santa Anita course doesn’t concern Clement.
“He’s a good mover and as long as he breaks, he’ll be fine,” said Clement. “The question is, do we work him the next two Fridays or work him just once more?”
Dylan Davis has ridden Carson’s Run in his three starts and would be getting just the second Breeders’ Cup mount of his career. Davis rode 12th-place finisher Second of July in the 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint.
◗ Capulet, once considered a possible Juvenile Turf starter for trainer Aidan O’Brien, no longer is being considered for the race. In his stead, O’Brien could send Henry Adams, who finished fourth Oct. 14 in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. In his previous start, Henry Adams had been fourth in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, a race in which Unquestioned, the O’Brien-trained early Juvenile Turf favorite, finished second.
◗ As of this week, Breeders’ Cup listed no potential Juvenile Turf runners for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby. Owner and trainer usually have a horse for the race, which they have won three times, most recently in 2021 at Del Mar with Modern Games.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.