Take Charge Brandi to Test, Travers Next?
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Let's not get ahead of ourselves... then again, why don't we?
Owner Willis Horton said July 17 that if Take Charge Brandi, champion juvenile filly of 2014, aces her comeback sprinting against other 3-year-old fillies in the Aug. 8 Longines Test Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course, a run against the boys could be possible in the Aug. 29 Travers Stakes (gr. I).
"It really depends on what she does in the Test Stakes," Horton said. "If she does real good and everything and comes out of it well, we might possibly try her in the Travers."
After she opened the year with a victory in the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park, Horton was poised to run Take Charge Brandi in this year's Rebel Stakes (gr. II) there against eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in his season debut, but she was sidelined when a non-displaced bone chip was discovered in her right knee. Dr. Larry Bramlage of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital near Lexington placed a pin in her knee March 12 and she was back to Lukas' Oaklawn Park barn a few days later, where she made a full recovery.
NOVAK: Take Charge Brandi Out of Rebel With Chip
The 3-year-old Giant's Causeway filly must now return to the races from the layoff she began March 10 when that injury was discovered. The comeback seems to be going well so far; Take Charge Brandi has been training forwardly for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas and has three works under her girth, including a July 13 four-furlong move in :48.70 on the Oklahoma oval at Saratoga.
Prior to shipping to the upstate New York oval with the Lukas summer string, Take Charge Brandi returned to the tab at Churchill Downs with a pair of three-furlong moves; June 27 in :36 3/5 and July 3 in :36 4/5.
"She's doing real good," Horton said. "She's bigger and stronger and Wayne says the layup has really done her a lot of good. He says she's just a super horse now; he thinks she's getting even better."
Take Charge Brandi won four races in a row—the Nov. 1 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), Nov. 22 Delta Downs Princess Stakes (gr. III), Dec. 13 Starlet Stakes (gr. I), and Jan. 31 Martha Washington—at the end of last season and beginning of 2015.
MITCHELL: Take Charge Brandi Shocks Juvenile Fillies
A $435,000 purchase from the Paramount Sales consignment at the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale, Take Charge Brandi's career record stands at five wins and a second from nine starts with earnings of $1,680,126. She was bred in Kentucky by Charming Syndicate out of the Seeking the Gold mare Charming, a daughter of multiple grade I winner Take Charge Lady. Horton also campaigned the Unbridled's Song colt Will Take Charge , out of Take Charge Lady, to honors as champion 3-year-old male of 2013.
Plans call for Take Charge Brandi to put in two more works before her return in the seven-furlong Test.
Horton previously mentioned the Sept. 19 Cotillion Stakes (gr. I) at Parx Racing as a possible next step en route to a start in the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) at Keeneland for Take Charge Brandi. The Cotillion is still on the radar, but if his filly returns to form, her owner would like the chance to prove she's not only among the best of her division, but of this year's 3-year-old generation overall.
"That's the way we feel," he said.