Out Since September, Mind Control to Return in Carter

As a prep on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the $750,000 Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) April 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack is the star attraction. But one of the other races on the program is also luring a compelling lineup.

The supporting seven-furlong Carter Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) could lure Mind Control , Green Light Go , Drafted , and other talented sprinters. The Carter is the first grade 1 of the year on the NYRA circuit.

It is a class level at which Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables' Mind Control has already won. As a 2-year-old, he took the Hopeful Stakes (G1), and a year later, the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1), both at Saratoga Race Course over a seven-furlong trip. He was trained at the time by Gregg Sacco.

The 6-year-old Stay Thirsty   horse has not raced since September when he took the Parx Dirt Mile at Parx Racing for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. He spiked a temperature last fall shortly before entries were taken for the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar.

"He's had a really nice series of breezes at Palm Beach Downs for Todd," said Red Oak Stable racing manager Rick Sacco. "He shipped up to New York on Sunday in good shape. It would be great for him to win a grade 1 at 6-years-old. You always question how fit they are off the layoff, but he's doing really well and we're all looking forward to bringing him back and running him. He definitely will put in a good account for himself." 

Although Mind Control proved his two-turn capabilities with his last-out score in the Parx Dirt Mile, his 2022 campaign will be clearer based on his Carter result. 

"We're playing it off the race," Sacco said. "He was awesome going the mile, but we'll see where this takes us. He's really thrived over the winter."

Mind Control is out of the Lightnin N Thunder  mare Feel That Fire , who also produced Goddess of Fire , one of the favorites for the April 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2).

Stronach Stables' Green Light Go and Drafted both breezed in recent days. The former went five furlongs March 30 in :59.22 on the Belmont Park training track, while the latter completed a half-mile on the training track in :47.80 March 31.

Green Light Go, a graded winner at 2, has experienced a resurgence in recent months, taking the Stymie Stakes at Aqueduct Feb. 26.

Dublin Fjord Stables, Racepoint Stables, Kevin Hilbert, and Thomas E. O'Keefe's Drafted comes off a victory in the Toboggan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct for trainer David Duggan, who began training the veteran sprinter in late 2020. 

"The seven-eighths is probably a good distance for him because they go fast enough in front," Duggan said. "Going three-quarters, he was always a little bit pace dependent and never quite getting there. Whether it was a weak field last time or not it's hard to know, but he got his confidence and if there's a time to take a chance, it's now. If it doesn't work, we'll dust ourselves off and return to the real world."