World of Trouble Takes Carter Handicap With Late Run
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
World of Trouble and Manny Franco take the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack
With only one off-the-board finish in 11 starts, World of Trouble is much more reliable than his name would suggest. In fact, it's often his rivals who find themselves in trouble when the son of Kantharos steps on the track.
And that's exactly what happened April 6.
Battling to the front three wide on the outside, the 4-year-old made a bold late run to the wire in the stretch and prevailed over his competition to win the $400,000 Carter Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
World of Trouble broke sharply in second under Manuel Franco from the outside post 8, racing just off the rail in third behind Honor Up, who dueled for the lead with Skyler's Skramjet through a :46.71 half-mile.
As they turned for home, the eventual winner moved up on the outside to run three abreast with Honor Up and Skyler's Scramjet. Tracking Honor Up at the top of the lane, Franco gave his mount some rein and the colt kicked ahead, opening up to take the lead by 1 1/2 lengths.
Set down for a drive as Skyler's Scramjet battled back to try and issue a late challenge, World of Trouble inched away in the final yards and edged his foe by a half-length at the wire to complete the seven-furlong test in 1:23.28.
"(Trainer) Jason (Servis) told me to break out of there and see how it developed, because we knew (Skyler's Scramjet) was going to go," Franco said. "We wanted to sit right off, and it worked out great. He can be sensitive, so I didn't want to get on him, and I think that was the key. I let him relax, and when I asked him to go, he was there for me."
Skyler's Scramjet finished second ahead of Honor Up in third. Vino Rosso finished another half-length behind Honor Up in fourth. Life in Shambles, Sir Ballantine, and Identity Politics completed the order of finish.
"He had horse the whole way," said owner Michael Dubb. "I knew Manny was comfortable, and he knew (World of Trouble) was comfortable. He could have gone at any time, but he was trying to leave 'some soap on the bar,' so it was nice to pick up this graded stakes with him, and we have a lot of options from here the rest of the year."
Owned in partnership by Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Bethlehem Stables, the victory marked the first graded score for World of Trouble, who entered the race off a win in an off-turf edition of the Jan. 26 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park. World of Trouble won four of his seven starts in 2018, all of them stakes, with an even split between dirt and turf. Proving equally as versatile in graded company, the colt placed third in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs and was second in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Churchill Downs.
World of Trouble was bred in Florida by Darsan out of the Valid Expectations mare Meets Expectations and is a half brother to Nieve Morena, a grade 3 (non-black-type) winner in the Dominican Republic, and stakes winner Money Or Love. Meets Expectations foaled a Kantharos colt in 2017 and a filly by The Big Beast in 2018. She was bred to Frosted for 2019.
World of Trouble was a $10,000 RNA from Darsan's consignment to the 2016 Ocala Breeders' Sales August Yearling Sale and holds a 7-2-1 record with $891,400 in earnings.
"It was good. What can I say?" Servis said. "He's a running son of a gun. He makes me look good. If I had a mare, I would breed to him, and the fact that he can do dirt and turf, I think we might go back to the turf. It would add some flavor to him as a stallion and then maybe back to the dirt, so we'll see."