Rodriguez high on Dads Caps

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Rudy Rodriguez believes Dads Caps is good enough to be considered for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint if he is ridden the right way. Pigeonholed as a speed horse, Dads Caps won Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter Handicap from off the pace.

And while Dads Caps is now a two-time winner of the Carter, Rodriguez believes the best race Dads Caps ever ran was his runner-up finish to Private Zone in last year’s Grade 1 Vosburgh, a race in which he again came from off the pace and was beaten a neck.

Saturday, under Jose Ortiz, Dads Caps was stalking the pace from the inside and was in fifth, behind a wall of four horses, at the quarter pole. He found room to split horses in upper stretch only to get slammed by Palace. Undeterred, Dads Caps drew clear for a 1 1/2-length victory.

“Jose had him in a very good position,” Rodriguez said. “He was very comfortable even after Palace almost knocked him down. As long as Jose knows now he doesn’t need to go to the lead. That’s the way he wants to run.”

Dads Caps became just the fifth horse to win the Carter in consecutive years, a list that includes Forego (1974-75) and, most recently, Lite the Fuse (1995-96).

Rodriguez said Dads Caps would likely be considered for the Grade 2, $250,000 True North at Belmont on June 5.

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