Brown pointing Rated by Merit, Praetor toward Carter

Rated by Merit, undefeated in five career starts, will be pointed to the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter Stakes on April 4 at Aqueduct, trainer Chad Brown said. Brown said he also plans to run recent allowance runner-up Praetor in that seven-furlong race.

After going 4 for 4 at age 2 – when in the care of trainer Michael Yates – Rated by Merit has made just one start in the last 15 months. On Oct. 3, Rated by Merit won the Discovery Stakes at Aqueduct. Brown, who took over the training of Rated by Merit last summer, was pointing Rated by Merit to the Grade 2 Cigar Mile on Dec. 6 but opted not to enter him because he didn’t like the way he was moving.

Rated by Merit, a son of Battalion Runner, has worked five times at the Payson Park training center in Florida so far and will have time for several more workouts.

Brown said since Rated by Merit had gone 4 for 4 at Gulfstream Park as a 2-year-old, he thought about running in last Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Mile, but didn’t want, off a layoff, to face Knightsbridge, who ultimately galloped by 11 1/4 lengths in that race.

Praetor, who finished third as the favorite in the Lexington Stakes last April, came off a layoff to finish second to Grande – also returning from a layoff – in a second-level allowance race Feb. 14 at Gulfstream. Praetor earned a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure in defeat.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.