Kreiser eyeing Westchester for Carter victor Point Dume
?q=100)
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Point Dume, who gave veteran trainer Tim Kreiser his first graded stakes victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Carter Stakes at Aqueduct, could try to give Kreiser his second in the Grade 3, $175,000 Westchester here on May 9.
In looking at potential next targets for the 5-year-old gelding by super stallion Into Mischief, Kreiser said he’d prefer to go longer than seven furlongs. The Westchester is a one-turn mile and comes five weeks after the Carter.
“The one-turn mile, with his speed, I think it would be perfect, truthfully,” Kreiser said Monday from Penn National, where he is based. “It’s a good time period. It’s at least four weeks, which is basically what you like to give them off these hard races. It makes sense, put it that way.”
In the Carter, Point Dume put away a pace challenge from Acoustic Ave, then held off a bid from Book’em Danno, the champion sprinter of 2025, to win by a neck. He earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, coming off the 104 he earned in winning the General George at Laurel Park in February.
“They tag-teamed him a little bit. That [Acoustic Ave] gave it all he had to the quarter pole. He was pushing pretty hard trying to get by us, then we had to brace for the next challenge,” Kreiser said. “That head-and-head stuff, he’s pretty tough. It’s when they come flying [outside], they might get by him.”
The victory was not only Kreiser’s first graded win, but it came on the occasion of owner Bryan Bushey’s birthday. In 2024, Bushey was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was at Aqueduct with his family and got emotional in the winner’s circle when being interviewed by NYRA’s Maggie Wolfendale.
“I died and they brought me back to life to see it,” Bushey said to Wolfendale.
Meanwhile, trainer Derek Ryan wasn’t too disappointed in Book’em Danno’s performance in his first start off a seven-month layoff. Ryan said the effort figures to have Book’em Danno tighter for the Grade 3 True North at Saratoga on June 6.
Ryan planned to bring Book’em Danno to a farm in Ocala for a few weeks. The farm has a track on which he can train in more consistent weather than may be the case in the Northeast.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.