HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – William Branch’s Carotari made a successful title defense Saturday at Gulfstream Park while registering his second straight front-running victory in the $75,000 Silks Run.
The Brian Lynch-trained son of Artie Schiller, who held on to win by a neck last season, scored by 1 ¾ lengths in the five-furlong turf dash that headlined a 12-race program.
Carotari broke alertly under Julien Leparoux to take the lead on the backstretch and withstood pressure around the turn and into the stretch before asserting his class and capturing his third win in four starts over the Gulfstream turf.
“He’s run a couple times here on this track and for some reason he shows more speed here than on any other track. We wanted to put him right there on the lead or at least second,” Leparoux said. “Even if they pressured me the first part of the race, he was not doing it rank. He was just nice and relaxed, and he got a nice breather around the turn actually, and when I turned for home he went on nicely.”
The 5-year-old gelding set fractions of 21.55 and 44.06 seconds for the first half-mile before completing the five furlongs in 55.43. Citrus Burst, who launched a four-wide sweep on the far turn, finished second, a neck ahead of The Connector, who pressed the pace under Jose Ortiz.”
Carotari was making his first start since coming up just short of victory in the Sam Houston Turf Sprint Jan. 21.
“I felt like he might have been the class and the speed of the race,” Lynch said. “I told Julien, ‘Break sharp and put him into the race. If they catch him, they beat him. If they don’t, they got beat by a better horse.”
Lynch said Carotari will likely race next in Kentucky.
“He’s a lovely horse to train. No issues at all. He’s a relatively lightly raced 5-year-old. His best years could be his 5-, 6-, 7-year-old years,” he said.
Silk Run Replay
Gulfstream Park Press Release
Photo: Carotari, center (Ryan Thompson/Coglianese)
