Liam's Lucky Charm Lands Pasco Stakes
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Photo: SV Photography
Liam's Lucky Charm wins the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs
After butting heads with Chance It in Florida stallion stakes last year, the switch to open stakes for the first time did not faze Liam's Lucky Charm in the least.
Making his first start since Sept. 28, the 3-year-old son of Khozan showed more early speed than usual while wearing blinkers for the first time and put it to good use, taking the lead before the first quarter-mile and never looking back in a 5 1/2-length victory Jan. 18 in the $125,000 Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
"He's a nice horse," trainer Ralph Nicks said. "I was a little surprised by how much early speed he had, but it was a combination of the layoff and blinkers. We had been waking him up a bit. He's a little lazy and green and still has a lot to learn, but he's putting things together."
Last year, Liam's Lucky Charm—owned and bred in Florida by Stonehedge—made three starts in Florida Stallion Series stakes against Chance It, who won two of those races and also beat open company Jan. 4 in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Liam's Lucky Charm beat Chance It in the second of those stakes, the seven-furlong FTBOA Florida Sire Affirmed Stakes at Gulfstream, and was second and third to him in the other two tests, illustrating to Nicks the quality of the horses running in those Florida-bred stakes.
"Chance It went on and did well. When we beat him the one time, I think he was a little off form. Horses get hiccups, but he won the Mucho Macho Man off a layoff, and when we come back off a layoff and win, it shows that those stallion races for Florida-breds were a solid group of horses," Nicks said.
The first stakes winner for his sire, Liam's Lucky Charm was given a break after finishing third—10 3/4 lengths behind Chance It—in the FTBOA Florida Sire In Reality Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
"He ran a dull race in the last leg of the stallion series, and that's why I gave him the time off," Nicks said. "It was a lethargic effort from what I had seen before, and I wanted to give him time to grow up. It was just mental."
Liam's Lucky Charm, out of the Stormy Atlantic mare P. S. I Love You, was sharp for Saturday's seven-furlong stakes, reeling off fractions of :22.36 and :44.66 and then pulling clear in the stretch under Edgard Zayas. The 7-5 favorite was timed in a quick 1:21.75 on a fast track and paid $4.80 on a $2 win wager.
It was his third win in six starts and lifted his earnings to $338,800.
Godolphin's Albert Park, a homebred son of Street Sense , was second for trainer Michael Stidham in his first start on dirt. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to Abdullah Saeed Almaddah's No Getting Over Me in third.
Nicks said he will hit the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) trail next with Liam's Lucky Charm, listing the March 7 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2), the Feb. 29 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream, and the Feb. 15 Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford-Lincoln (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots as possible options.