Do the Math: Time for Calculator to Step Up
In my opinion, Wood Memorial Day represents a real fork in the road for Calculator. Nearly two years into a racing career that has only produced seven career starts, the future of the four-year-old son of In Summation is in the here and now. Having never before raced outside the state of California, and never having experienced the taste of winning a Grade 1 race, after all this time, everything is suddenly on the table for the talented Peter Miller trained gray. A win in Saturday’s $400,000 Carter Handicap could set in motion an upward ascent towards the top of the heap of America’s one-turn runners. With a loss, though, Calculator moves closer to being a member of the long list of horses who never quite were able to live up their vast potential.
Calculator has been a fan favorite ever since running second to the future Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. That was the handsome gray’s third lifetime race. Still a maiden, he came back to again finish second to the Pharoah in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes. That time he finished ahead of a horse named Texas Red, who would win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in his next start. Although winless in four starts as a juvenile, those two second places finishes behind the champion in back-to-back Grade 1 races, sent Calculator into his three-year-old season as a youngster that everyone had their eye on. He did nothing to squelch the enthusiasm in his sophomore debut.
An easy victory in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in January of 2015 stamped the Richard Pell owned colt’s name on all the Kentucky Derby lists of early last year. Unfortunately, an injury would keep him on the sidelines for 13 months. His return to the races to date has been solid. A game win in a seven-furlong optional claimer, followed by a good third in the Grade 2 San Carlos on March 12, demonstrated that Calculator still has plenty of giddy-up in his game. Now, third start back off the layoff, and running back at a trip that he obviously likes, should have him primed and ready to fire his best.
Of course they don’t hand out Grade 1 stakes races just for showing up. Calculator will have to be at his ready best in Saturday’s seven-furlong affair, carded as the eleventh race on an outstanding card at the Big A. Chief among his competition is the many times a stakes winner, Salutos Amigos, who is coming off a monster last-to-first in the blink of an eye run in last month’s Tom Fool. An inner-track demon, the six-year-old gelding might be just a little bit more beatable as the main track at Aqueduct opens again. Still, anything near his best for trainer David Jacobson, and Salutos Amigos becomes one tough hombre to handle.
Another ornery dude set for the Carter is the stablemate of Amigos, Stallwalkin’ Dude. Also coming in off a nice win, undefeated over the main track at Aqueduct, and with plenty of strong performances at the tricky seven-eighths’ trip, he may be just as difficult to deny as his preferred barn mate.
Lest we forget, the two-time defending champion of the Carter is also in the race. Dad’s Caps hasn’t been running his best of late for trainer Rudy Rodriguez, but a change of riders, equipment, and a return to his favorite surface could be the tonic that once again makes him a real threat in the Carter. None of the others in the eight-horse field are exactly pushovers either; Green Gratto possesses dangerous speed, while Anchor Down, Majestic Affair, and Sassicaia all come in on terrific form.
As you can see, the cross-country trip to New York in search of his first Grade 1 victory for Calculator comes with many potential pitfalls, but the potential to be all this and more is there. Win on Saturday, from the seven post with Junior Alvarado in the irons, and Calculator makes his claim as a member of racing’s elite. He also announces himself as a big threat for the prestigious Met Mile in a couple of months. Is Calculator finally ready to push all the right buttons on Saturday? I for one, like his chances.