Carson's Run takes Summer, She Feels Pretty wins Natalma

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Saratoga shippers Carson’s Run and She Feels Pretty swept both Grade 1 2-year-old stakes at Woodbine on Saturday, the Summer and the Natalma, two Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re in qualifiers going a mile on the main turf.

The Summer was delayed about 12 minutes while favored My Boy Prince underwent a shoe repair in the paddock. My Boy Prince went straight to the lead under Joel Rosario and was hounded by Western Twirl early, as Carson’s Run bided his time while saving ground in a trailing position through the turn.

Dylan Davis swung Carson’s Run out nine-wide entering the stretch, and they caught My Boy Prince near the eighth pole en route to a 2 1/4-length score, in a time of 1:35.70 over the good ground. Longshots Go With Gusto and Tunechi finished third and fourth, respectively, in the nine-horse field.

Trained by Christophe Clement, Carson’s Run ($8.60) notched his debut going long on the Saratoga sod before ending up second there in the Grade 3 With Anticipation a month later on Aug. 31.

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“He’s a great ride,” Davis said. “I’ve ridden him in all three starts. In his last start, he got a little intimidated being in between horses. I thought he could have done a better job in there, but he’s still learning. Today, we wanted to go the outside route and keep a clear trip on him. We saved all the ground into the turn. It’s a real big turn here. I lost that ground toward the outside, and he was able to get it done.”

Carson’s Run, a son of Cupid, pocketed $300,000 of the $522,500 purse for the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds and Steven Bouchey.

*** She Feels Pretty ($18) won the $503,500 Natalma easily by 4 1/4 lengths under John Velazquez, giving trainer Cherie DeVaux her first Grade 1 victory in the race for fillies.

Simply in Front finished second at 29-1 and favored Dazzling Star rallied from well back for third after a slow start. The final time was 1:35.34.

She Feels Pretty was coming off a layoff, which followed her debut win in July at Ellis Park. Assistant trainer Adrianne Devaux saddled the daughter of BC Mile winner Karakontie.

“It’s really special, especially working with my sister, to not only get our first Grade 1 - we’ve been knocking on the door - but to do it that way was amazing,” Devaux said. “She’s been at Saratoga. Every single day that she’s trained, she’s physically matured and she’s mentally matured. You can’t tell that she’s a 2-year-old filly. She looks like an older filly. With the way she trains, every single day she goes out there and she’s happy to do it. It gave me confidence going into this, especially taking this big step (up).”

She Feels Pretty banked $300,000 for Lael Stables.

*** Woodbine’s top sprinter, Patches O’Houlihan, won Saturday’s Grade 3 Vigil in a gutsy display under Daisuke Fukumoto.

Patches O’Houlihan prevailed in a front-end battle with Rockcrest in the six-furlong Tapeta sprint before holding off a surging Last American Exit to win by a nose, in a time of 1:09.16. A charging Secret Reserve finished another head back in third in the eight-horse field.

A 3-year-old son of Reload, Patches O’Houlihan earned $108,000 of the $172,800 purse for owner/breeder Frank DiGiulio Jr. Winning trainer Robert Tiller said he missed the race while in an elevator at the track.

“I think he’s a really good horse,” Tiller said. “We were lucky to win today and he won without me because I didn’t see the race. I missed it because I got stuck in the elevator.”

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