Doppelganger has plenty of options after upsetting Carter
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Plans for Doppelganger are fluid after the 4-year-old colt pulled off a 17-1 upset in Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct.
The win, which came by 1 1/4 lengths over heavily favored Repo Rocks, was the third straight for the son of Into Mischief, all since coming to Maryland-based trainer Brittany Russell. His wins have come from seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, which leaves open the possibility of stretching him back out in distance at some point, according Tom Ryan, managing partner of SF Racing, which owns the colt in partnership.
“I think we do a lot of blanket nominating with him,” Ryan said. “For sure, the Met Mile [on June 10] at Belmont Park would be an extraordinary achievement if we got him there feeling like we had a chance. There are a lot of options across the summer with him.”
Ryan said Russell joined Doppelganger’s previous trainers Bob Baffert and Tim Yakteen in having a high appraisal of the colt watching him train.
“Everybody had a strong opinion of this horse,” Ryan said. “He found his style. He got his confidence by having those two nice allowance races in Maryland. Every time I talked with Brittany, she kept saying to me this horse thinks he’s a Grade 1 winner, let’s give him a chance.”
Doppelganger rallied from next-to-last under Jevian Toledo to get the victory, for which he earned a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Carter was the first Grade 1 victory for both Russell and jockey Jevian Toledo. Ryan called leaving Toledo on the horse a “clutch” decision because “he knew how to ride him, he had confidence in the horse.”
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