Clement confident Carson's Run will take step forward in Bowling Green
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Carson’s Run began his career with a maiden victory at Saratoga in July 2023 and has since won three graded stakes, two of which are Grade 1s. He is winless, however, in five starts since his victory in the Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby at Aqueduct in October 2024.
Carson’s Run figures to be bypassed by most bettors when he starts in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga. Trainer Miguel Clement believes that may be premature.
“He just started getting back into form,” Clement said. “He’s eating better, training better, he’s better in his legs and he’s just starting to go the right way. At Payson [this winter], he was struggling forever. We knew he was going to get beat his first race off the layoff. I thought it would help us out for the rest of the season.”
In his first race of the year, Carson’s Run finished sixth in the Appleton Stakes at Gulfstream. The true disappointment came in an allowance race May 7 at Aqueduct, where he finished fourth, beaten 8 1/4 lengths by Integration.
“I was incredibly disappointed with his race in the allowance. Nevertheless the [sheet numbers] came out surprisingly fast, it was a very fast, salty bunch when Integration won the allowance that day,” Clement said. “Visually, he ran a poor race, but it might have been deceptively a better race than we all thought.”
Carson’s Run will break from post 5 in a Bowling Green field that drew just seven. The European-based Fort George and Minaret Station are among the leading contenders in this 1 3/8-mile race.
Meanwhile, Clement said he flirted with the idea of entering Tawny Port in the Bowling Green but ultimately decided against. Tawny Port will point to the Grade 1 Christophe Clement, the race formerly known as the Sword Dancer, on Aug. 15. Clement said he would like to get two runs into Tawny Port at Kentucky Downs and then look to run him either twice at Woodbine or point to the Melbourne Cup in Australia. Tawny Port earned an automatic berth into the Melbourne Cup by virtue of his victory in the Belmont Gold Cup last month.
“Yes, he won well the Belmont Gold Cup, but I’m convinced he’s a better horse in the fall,” Clement said. “He’s a touch of a non-sweater, he’s going to love the fall. Last year, he improved several lengths from his summer form to his fall form, and I think the same will take place.”
Clement said he hopes to get Deterministic back to the work tab this coming weekend. He has not worked since his victory in the Grade 1 Manhattan on June 6. Clement believes he can still make the Grade 1 Fourstardave on Aug. 8. That field figures to include Zulu Kingdom and Mi Bago, the dead-heat winners of Sunday’s Grade 3 Kelso Stakes.
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