Sistercharlie Starts 2020 Campaign in Ballston Spa

The operative words for the $200,000 Ballston Spa Stakes (G2T) are "better late than never."

As much as 2018 female turf champ Sistercharlie may be making a later than normal start to her 2020 campaign, simply having the $3.6 million earner running at Saratoga Race Course in the July 25 event at the robust age of 6 is good news enough for trainer Chad Brown.

"She's looking good and seems fit and ready to run. We are looking forward to getting her season started. It's a little late but we have the whole second half of the season to work with, so, hopefully she'll start off the right way," said Brown, who will be chasing a fourth straight win in the Ballston Spa and sixth in nine years. "I'm very appreciative to get one more season with her."

The decision to give the daughter of Myboycharlie one last season of racing was made by owner Peter Brant out of respect for all she has accomplished in the past two years, winning seven grade 1 stakes, highlighted by the 2018 Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T).

"According to Peter, she's the best horse he's ever owned, which is quite a statement. He's owned some great racehorses," Brown said about an owner whose stable has included the Hall of Famer Waya plus Just A Game and Gulch. "Peter told me when you win seven grade 1s, you earned the status of the best he's owned. I thought that was very well said and that was the rationale for keeping her in training. It's not like a horse he'll sell. He'll never sell her. So racing her one more year and having one less foal really doesn't matter to him because it's not a commercial situation with this horse. She'll be kept, and all of her offspring most likely will be kept."

Brant purchased Sistercharlie, bred by Ecurie Des Monceaux out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, following a win in the 2017 Prix Penelope (G3) in France. She then ran second in the Prix de Diane Longines (G1) before being shipped to the United States and starting her career with Brown by finishing second in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) for 3-year-old fillies.

The Ballston Spa will be Sistercharlie's first race since Nov. 2 when she finished third while seeking an encore win in the Filly and Mare Turf on a hard surface at Santa Anita Park. She suffered some bone bruises in the 1 1/4-mile stakes that snapped a dazzling streak of six wins, all in grade 1 stakes.

That streak, plus a career record of 10 wins and three seconds in 15 starts, attests to the deep bond between Brant and the Irish-bred mare and also explains why she was a finalist for the champion turf female award for a second straight year in 2019.

As for this year, though Saturday's outing against five rivals will mark her first start in nearly nine months, she was as sharp as could be off a similar break in her 2019 debut. Coming off a break of about 8 1/2 months, she defeated the brilliant Rushing Fall in Saratoga's Diana Stakes (G1T) at 1 1/8 miles.

"She's coming into this race a lot like she did last year," Brown said.

The distance might be a tad short for a mare who has raced at 1 1/8 miles or more in her past eight starts, but she did win the 2018 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) at the same 1 1/16-mile distance after a nine-month absence from the races.

"It's as short as she wants to run, but I've seen her do that before, especially in the Jenny Wiley," said Brown, who also entered Brant's maiden winner North Broadway in the grade 2 stakes. "She has the turn of foot to do it. She's an incredible horse. For her to win at all the distances she has is remarkable."

Due to changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sistercharlie's schedule will be shuffled from her 2019 campaign. Going forward, she's likely to return in the Diana, a race moved to Aug. 23 that she will try to win for the third time.

In some ways, the Ballston Spa will be a similar challenge for her as the 2019 Diana as she will need a top effort off a layoff to handle a proven grade 1 winner in reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Starship Jubilee, who will be well suited by the distance. 

A winner of her past three starts and five of her past six, the 7-year-old Indy Wind  mare is 3-for-3 in 2020, winning the Hillsborough Stakes (G2T) at Tampa Bay Downs in her previous start. Claimed for $16,000 in February 2017, she captured the 2019 E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) for trainer Kevin Attard and owner Blue Heaven Farm. 

"At one point, we were pointing toward the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland in April, but then COVID took over and plans changed. We sent her to the farm after her race at Tampa, and she had a bit of a freshening before we got her back into training," Attard said. "I think she's ready. It took her a little bit longer to come around, but she is getting a little bit older. Her last few works have been good, and I saw enough in her last work that I think she's ready to ship and compete."

She has won 17 of 35 starts and earned $1,498,667.

R Unicorn Stable's Call Me Love also started her career in Europe and will be seeking her first win in the United States. A daughter of Sea The Stars, she was a closing second to Rushing Fall in the 1 1/16-mile Beaugay Stakes (G3T) in her American debut for trainer Christophe Clement. Then she failed to threaten the gate-to-wire winner Mean Mary while finishing fourth June 27 in the 1 1/4-mile New York Stakes (G2T).

The Ballston Spa will be the third of 11 races on the card, with post time scheduled for 2:18 p.m. ET.

Entries: Ballston Spa S. (G2T)

Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, July 25, 2020, Race 3

• Grade II
• 1 1/16m
• Inner turf
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 2:18 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Call Me Love (GB)	Joel Rosario	122	Christophe Clement	5/1
2	2Bramble Queen (IL)	Manuel Franco	118	Michael Dini	30/1
3	3North Broadway (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	118	Chad C. Brown	30/1
4	4Another Broad (MD)	Rider TBA	118	Todd A. Pletcher	6/5
5	5Sistercharlie (IRE)	John R. Velazquez	122	Chad C. Brown	2/5
6	6Starship Jubilee (FL)	Javier Castellano	122	Kevin Attard	2/1