West Point Thoroughbreds and Steven Bouchey’s Kentucky-bred Carson’s Run capitalized on a patient ride from Dylan Davis to win the $600,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational S. (G1) at Saratoga on Sunday, Aug. 11. With the win, Carson’s Run earned a berth in the Group 1, $5 million Cox Plate in Australia on Oct. 26.
Rated at the back of the compact field through the early stages, Carson’s Run made his move coming out of the far turn. He picked off runners in the lane, going from last to first to get up in the final sixteenth. He covered 1 3/16 miles on turf in 1:55.81.
Named in honor of Carson Jost, who has the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, Carson’s Run is now a two-time Grade 1 winner. He also annexed the Summer S. (G1) at Woodbine last year at two. The $170,000 OBS Spring Sale graduate is a son of Cupid out of the Henny Hughes mare Hot N Hectic. Frankfort Park Farm bred Carson’s Run in Kentucky.
“Who would ever have thought a horse by Cupid would win a Grade 1 going a mile and three-sixteenths,” said West Point’s Terry Finley. “I guess that’s the beautiful thing about the partners and particularly David Ingordo, our bloodstock agent. We go to the sales, and we have the freedom to take shots and to buy horses that other people don’t buy. That’s a beautiful thing. Oftentimes, they don’t work out, but when they work out like this there’s a sweetness to this business that you can’t match in anything else in life that you do.”
Winning trainer Christophe Clement added, “Great race, very good ride from Dylan. He knows the horse very well, he has been working him many, many times the last two months. Obviously, he loved the ground (labeled good), and he finished well. When he is right, he has a spectacular turn of foot, like he showed today.”
Carson’s Run is now a winner in four of seven lifetime starts. He has amassed earnings of $719,529.