Russell has likely favorite this time in Post Time for Carter

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Last year, trainer Brittany Russell won her first Grade 1 stakes when Doppelganger upset the Carter Handicap at odds of 17-1, the longest price in the six-horse field.

This year, Russell may have the favorite for the seven-furlong $300,000 Carter Stakes – now run as a Grade 2 and no longer a handicap – when she sends Post Time from Maryland to face just four rivals at Aqueduct.

Post Time, a Maryland-bred son of Frosted, has won seven of eight career starts. His victories in the Jennings, against statebreds, and most recently, the Grade 3 General George, have produced triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, something not achieved by his four Carter opponents.

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“He ran two big races back-to-back, obviously at his home on a racetrack he’s been very good on,” Russell said. “Now we’re taking him on the road.”

Post Time’s lone defeat came in his only start outside of Maryland when he finished third in the Perryville at Keeneland last October. Russell said not everything went the way she had planned going into that race but was still pleased with how well he ran, finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind the 2023 Gotham Stakes winner, Raise Cain.

This time, Russell does like the way things are going for Post Time leading into the Carter.

“He’s better at this stage training and the frame of mind he’s in,” Russell said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. We’re in a better position right now.”

Sheldon Russell, Brittany’s husband, has the call on Post Time, who breaks from post 2.

In order to win the Carter, Post Time will likely have to run down Super Chow, who has already won the Grade 3 Toboggan and the Grade 3 Tom Fool at Aqueduct this winter.

Though Super Chow has a tendency to drift in his races, trainer Jorge Delgado believes Super Chow is maturing in the manner in which he runs.

“He can relax his speed now. Before he was like an explosion,” Delgado said. “The good thing is he’s got a winning mindset. He likes to win.”

Jockey Madison Olver has developed a rapport with Super Chow and has been aboard for both graded wins and rides again from post 4 on Saturday.

Petulante, who won the Salvator Mile at Monmouth last June, made his first start since then – and first for trainer Rick Dutrow – in the Stymie on March 3, when he finished third, beaten a half-length by stablemate Kinetic Sky.

Joel Rosario rides from post 5.

Castle Chaos was third in the Cigar Mile here last December and second, beaten a nose in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper at Gulfstream in January. He shipped to New York and finished a well-beaten sixth in the Stymie.

Trainer Robert Falcone Jr. said the combination of shipping in from Florida right on top of the Stymie and the extremely sloppy track may have contributed to that poor result. Falcone was planning to enter an allowance race in the condition book for Sunday, but it was unclear whether that would race would fill.

Whittington Park is 2 for 2 this year including a fast-figured win taking the Haynesfield Stakes for New York-breds on Feb. 24.

With only five horses entered, the Carter is carded as race 4 (12:51 p.m.) on the 11-race card.

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