Drafted will like seven-furlong distance of the Carter
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Drafted, who earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes, could make his next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap here on April 9, trainer David Duggan said Sunday.
“We’ll nominate and look,” Duggan said. “It’s nice to even be thinking about it. If he got beat 10 lengths we’re back in an allowance race. That’s the reality of it.”
Drafted, an 8-year-old gelding by First Commission, hadn’t won in nearly three years before he made an eye-catching move under Jose Ortiz to go from last to first in the Toboggan. He won by 4 1/2 lengths and covered seven furlongs in 1:25.06 over a muddy track that wasn’t yielding particularly quick times.
The Carter makes sense in that Duggan believes Drafted is better at seven furlongs than six. Duggan said a race like the Grade 3, $250,000 General George at Laurel Park on Feb. 19 comes too quickly.
“I think it’s quite obvious he’s a better horse going seven; the numbers kind of dictate that,” Duggan said.
Drafted was a two-time Group 3 winner going six furlongs in Dubai back in 2019. He came to Duggan in the summer of 2020 and made four consecutive stakes starts, including a fourth-place finish in last year’s Toboggan.
“Last year in the Toboggan I put him a little closer. He didn’t have the kick,” Duggan said. “Stay back, deep breath, one run. I was a little concerned if Jose moved too soon.”
Ortiz, up from Florida to ride Early Voting in the Grade 3 Withers, picked up the mount on Drafted because his regular rider, Dylan Davis, was at Gulfstream Park. Ortiz said that when he put Drafted in the clear, the gelding grabbed the bit and wanted to go.
“He had that race in him since Dubai,” Duggan said. “We couldn’t understand why we weren’t getting there.”
Duggan called the victory “huge for us.” He and his wife, Lara, run a small stable that numbers around five or six horses. Duggan said he’s been virtually shut out at the claim box.
“I’ve dropped 25 slips and got one,” he said.
Meanwhile, Happy Medium, who finished third as the 1-5 favorite in the Toboggan, appeared to come out of the race well, other than burning through his hind bandages, known as running down.
“He didn’t break any skin, so that’s good,” trainer Michelle Nevin said. “Maybe the track didn’t suit him. We’ll regroup.”