Charge It Set For First Race Since 23-Length Dwyer Win

If Whisper Hill Farm's Charge It  runs as well Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park as he did the last time he started, there should be a rather dazzling performance in the offing in the eighth race at the South Florida track.

One of the most talented members of last year's 3-year-old male division, fate worked against the homebred son of Tapit   at highly inopportune times in 2022. Second in the Florida Derby (G1) for trainer Todd Pletcher in just his third career start, he was an intriguing 16-1 shot in the Kentucky Derby (G1). 

He crossed the finish line 17th in the Run for the Roses, but that subpar effort was excused by an entrapped epiglottis that knocked him off the Triple Crown trail.

When he ran next in the July 2 Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park, he performed like a potential Travers Stakes (G1) favorite by taking the mile stakes by an ever-widening 23-length margin.

After that, another mishap sent him to the sidelines for the next seven months as he grabbed a quarter in the race, and the foot ailment prompted his connections to scuttle his 3-year-old season and point for a 4-year-old campaign that starts Sunday at Gulfstream.

"It was frustrating because he won the Dwyer as impressively as any 3-year-old ran last year," Pletcher said. "But he grabbed a quarter in that race, and that eventually cost us time and we were unable to make the Jim Dandy (G2) or the Travers like we were hoping. It added to our frustration because it wasn't an injury per se. We just couldn't run, train, and heal at the same time. We had to shut him down for a little while and let it heal. So we sent him back to Whisper Hill in Ocala. We let the foot grow out and it looks good now."

The grade 1-placed Charge It, scheduled to be ridden by Luis Saez, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite over six rivals in the $87,000 allowance optional claiming race at 1 1/16 miles. The only other stakes winner in the field is Clapton , a son of Brethren   who took the Gil Campbell Memorial Handicap in October at Gulfstream but was eighth in the Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3) in his last start.

"He's trained very well and has always showed a lot of talent. We're just looking for a place to get his season started. He's ready to run and I thought this was a logical spot for it," Pletcher said about Charge It, a son of the Indian Charlie  mare I'll Take Charge . "He was as talented as anyone in the 3-year-old crop. We just got a little bit of a late start. He was still green in the Florida Derby and displaced his palate in the Kentucky Derby. So, if he had an extra start, who knows what would have happened."

Pletcher said the main targets for Charge It are the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) and Whitney Stakes (G1) later in the year in New York and that Sunday's race will dictate how he gets to those prestigious stakes.