Carson’s Run sure can run, vaulting himself and the inspiration for his name into the Breeders’ Cup with a scorching rally to win the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine outside Toronto.

Dylan Davis piloted Carson’s Run in the Summer for trainer Christophe Clement as that team combined with West Point for a second Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” berth for the 2023 World Championships, with Carson’s Run (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf) joining Parnac, who scored in the Grade 2 Beldame Stakes on September 2 at Saratoga to punch her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

This was the fourth weekend in a row that West Point won a Graded stakes event, a streak started by Vahva in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks and continued last week by Integration in the Grade 3 Virginia Derby.

The Summer has been awfully good to WPT, which also won the race in 2017 with Untamed Domain and in 2019 with the Clement-trained Decorated Invader.

The inspiration for Carson’s Run’s name is remarkably similar to that of 2022 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile hero Cody’s Wish.

Carson’s Run is named for Carson Jost, who was born with the same extremely rare genetic disorder, Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, as Cody Dorman, the namesake of superstar Cody’s Wish. Resulting from a partial deletion on the short arm of chromosome 4, the syndrome causes severe mental and physical disabilities. He is confined to a wheelchair and is largely unable to communicate.

Carson’s father, Wade, is a former West Point classmate of WPT CEO Terry Finley. Earlier this year Wade decided to be part of a West Point Thoroughbreds partnership, in hopes of honoring his beloved Carson, and Terry agreed to name one of WPT’s new 2-year-olds after him.

Carson’s Run won his debut at Saratoga this summer and followed with a strong second-place finish in the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes.

Fellow 2-year-old colt Stretch Ride also was victorious on September 17, scoring in his career debut at Churchill, resilient and taking advantage of a great ride from Martin Chuan. Dale Romans trains Stretch Ride, who was bred in Kentucky and exported as a young horse to France, where West Point acquired him in a 2-year-old sale this spring.

Story Introducing Carson’s Run and Carson Jost