Charge It Takes Aim at Suburban Repeat for Whisper Hill

Whisper Hill Farm's Charge It  will look to get back on track with a repeat victory in the $350,000 Suburban Stakes (G2) June 8 at Saratoga Race Course.

The 5-year-old son of Tapit   trained by Todd Pletcher always has been considered a physically gifted horse. There have been a handful of huge wins, such as his 23-length victory in the 2022 Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park, where he ran a mile in 1:34.67. It looked like Charge It's 4 3/4-length victory in last year's Suburban might be another breakthrough, but he finished 2023 with a trio of fourth-place finishes in the Whitney (G1) and Woodward (G2) stakes and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Pletcher removed blinkers from Charge It in the Breeders' Cup, and they remained off in his 2024 debut, when Charge It pressed the pace in the one-mile Westchester Stakes (G3) but flattened late and finished third behind Messier  and Post Time .

Stretching out to 1 1/4 miles in his second race of the year, he looks like a major pace factor in the Suburban. While Charge It has won two of three starts at Belmont Park, his only run at Saratoga was last year's Whitney, when he finished 10 lengths behind White Abarrio .

The Suburban drew a field of eight 4-year-olds and up. Charge It carries high weight of 122 pounds as the field's only grade 2 winner. All others were assigned 118 pounds, including Mohammed Khaleel Ahmed's Bendoog , a progressive 5-year-old by Gun Runner  .

Bendoog ran his first 10 races in Dubai, hitting the board in a pair of graded Maktoum Challenge races for trainer Bhupat Seemar. Following his sixth-place finish in the 2023 Dubai World Cup (G1) behind Ushba Tesoro , Bendoog was sent to America and transferred to Bill Mott.

Third in an entry level allowance at Aqueduct Racetrack in November, Bendoog rides a two-race win streak into the Suburban, having won a pair of highly rated allowance races at Aqueduct to start 2024.

Pletcher also has the third-ranked horse on the morning line—Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables' multiple stakes winner Crupi . The 4-year-old Curlin   colt will be making his first start back stateside following a 10th-place finish in the Dubai World Cup (G1).

John Holleman's Masqueparade  has a graded win, but it was back in 2021 when he won the Ohio Derby (G3) for trainer Al Stall Jr. and then owner FTGGG Racing. Holleman claimed Masqueparade for $80,000 last year.

Masqueparade won the 1 1/2-mile Temperance Hill Stakes at Oaklawn Park March 29. After that race he was transferred from trainer Robertino Diodoro following a barn raid and suspension of Diodoro by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit. Rob Atras now trains the 6-year-old Upstart   gelding.