Newly-minted Grade 1 winner Green Gratto in fine fettle after Carter
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Photo:
Joe Labozzetta
Trainer Gaston Grant reported that his newly-minted Grade 1 winner Green Gratto returned from his neck victory over Unified in the $400,000 Carter Handicap on Saturday in fine fettle.
"He came out of it pretty good," said Grant. "He ate up all his feed and is looking like his old usual self."
Making his 53rd career start, the grizzled 7-year-old veteran rebounded from a disappointing seventh-place running in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 11, going wire-to-wire to upset a field of nine in the Carter at odds of 54-1.
"After the Tom Fool, we knew he just didn't run his race," said Grant. "We had him scoped and he had traces of blood in his lungs so we backed off him. He quickly returned to his old self and it showed on Saturday."
Grant, who co-owns Green Gratto with his brother Anthony, noted that capturing his first Grade 1 this weekend was especially gratifying due to his personal connection with the horse.
"It's been a real joy," he said. "I've been with him his entire racing career. From when he was a 2-year-old I started as his hot walker, then groom, and trainer."
Looking ahead, Grant was undecided on where Green Gratto might point next, adding that he'll let the star in his stable decide.
"We'll just wait and see," said Grant. "We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves but he'll let us know when he'll be ready to run again."
* * *
With a Belmont Stakes Challenge Handicapping seat and two seats to the National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas up for grabs, David Harrison of Webster, New York quickly established himself at the top of the leaderboard in Saturday's Wood Memorial Handicapping Challenge tournament, cashing in on a $20 win wager on Brimstone at odds of 4-1 and a $2 exacta and $10 trifecta in Aqueduct's second race with, and never relinquished his lead to earn the victory in the tournament.
A regular NYRA handicapping contest player, Harrison increased his $300 live money contest bankroll to a final total of $3,370.20. Harrison, who also picked up $5,000 in prize money for first place, credited his handicapping strategy, focusing on speed and class for earning him the tournament victory.
"I'm a speed player, and speed came in very handy," said Harrison, an underwriter for an appraisal management company. "I've been handicapping since I was 17 or 18 years old and I'm also a big fan of Live Oak Plantation and I have to thank Charlotte Webber [owner of Live Oak Plantation] for a couple of winners. Sometimes, if I can't decide where to go in a race, I'll go with Live Oak Plantation, and they had a couple of winners [Saturday] so it worked out good."
Joining Harrison in the top three was second-place finisher Anthony Napolitano of Brooklyn, with a final bankroll of $3,343 and $900 in prize money as well as the choice of seat in either the 2017 Belmont Stakes Challenge Seat or National Handicapping Championship, and Charles Welch, who finished third with a final bankroll of $1,930 and $720 in prize money and the remaining tournament seat.
Source: NYRA Communications
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