Caleb’s Posse ready to take on Calibrachoa
Cheyenne Stables and McNeill Stables owned 4-year-old awesome sprinter, Caleb’s Posse, in his last start had a clue what he was doing in the stretch when he was powering down like a locomotive chasing Calibrachoa under jockey Rajiv Maragh, but it just seemed a little too far in the end as he was brutally necked out by the leader in the last stride, winning the Grade 3 Tom Fool Stakes at Aqueduct race course at about six furlongs.
The rematch is on, and it is not just going to be about Calibrachoa and Caleb’s Posse because the Grade 1, $400,000 Carter Handicap has reeled in an exciting field, where the glorious runners of the year past are going to run over a distance of 7 furlongs over the Aqueduct’s dirt course.
The likes of Jackson Bend will be vying for the Carter Handicap after his third place finish in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap, and on the other hand the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner of last year, Shackleford, will be itching to take the field in the Carter to redeem himself after an uncharacteristic seventh place finish in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap.
The third place finisher of the Grade 3 Tom Fool Stakes, Kiaran McLaughlin trained son of Unbridled’s Song, Emcee will come back to face Calibrachoa and Caleb’s Posse in the Carter Handicap, indeed a bold decision by Emcee’s connections.
Six furlongs were a little too much for Caleb’s Posse last time around, which never should’ve been a problem, but now trainer Von Hemel will work on the Caleb’s Posse to go for an extra furlong in the Carter Handicap.
“It’s pretty apparent that that’s better for us,” trainer Donnie Von Hemel said Monday from Oaklawn. “The seven-eighths is a good distance for us.”
The weights will be spread among Calibrachoa and Caleb’s Posse as they did in the Tom Fool Stakes, where Caleb’s Posse was 122 and Calibrachoa was a 118.
The winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Caleb’s Posse will be looking to leave his Tom Fool Stakes woes behind and look up to a bigger challenge than his previous races in the form of Carter Handicap.
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