Doppelganger proves best in Carter to become Into Mischief’s 15th G1 winner

Doppelganger became Into Mischief’s 15^th lifetime Grade 1 winner Saturday at Aqueduct when he stormed down the stretch to win the Carter H. (G1) by 1 ¼-lengths.

The 4-year-old, who was twice graded stakes-placed while on the California circuit for Bob Baffert, is now 3-for-3 for trainer Brittany Russell. Saturday’s breakthrough win upped his record to 4-1-1 in 10 starts and his earnings to $442,400.

Doppelganger was well off the pace in the early stages of the seven-furlong Carter. A rapid half-mile set the stage for the bay’s dramatic stretch run. He was about seven lengths from the lead at the top of the stretch and still had four lengths to make up with a furlong to run. He rallied with tremendous strides in the final furlong, storming down the middle of the track to win going away in 1:23.35 on the fast track.

“This is the first horse that the (owners) sent me last year,” Russell said. “We opted to give him some time and let him develop, and it’s nice to see that it pays off. It’s a job well done to the whole team and rewarding to see the patience pay off. He’s just had a lot of confidence and trained well. I’ve been getting feedback in the morning from everyone that he’s getting better and today it showed.”

Russell was referring to owners SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert Masterson and E. Schoenfarb. The group purchased Doppelganger for $570,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearlings sale.

Doppelganger is Into Mischief’s 13^th stakes winner and seventh graded winner of 2023. As he has did each of the past four years, Into Mischief once again is atop the General Sire list with more than $6.8 million in progeny earnings to date.

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