Money'soncharlotte Out to Stamp Season in Falls City
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Photo: Chad B. Harmon
Money'soncharlotte wins the Molly Pitcher Stakes at Monmouth Park July 30
It took the better part of a year and a half, but the aspirations trainer Kelly Breen had for Money'soncharlotte are finally coming to fruition.
After a few fruitless tries against top company the past couple years, Money'soncharlotte has proven she can now handle the bigger and better tests asked of her, earning her first graded score and a grade 1-placing this season. The 5-year-old daughter of Mizzen Mast aims to put an exclamation point on what has been a career-year when she heads up the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (G2) going 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs Nov. 23.
Breen tipped his hand regarding his confidence in Money'soncharlotte two years ago when he saddled the bay distaffer for a start in the 2015 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). She finished 13th of 14 that day as the longest shot in the field and then posted two more off-the-board runs at the top level, finishing eighth in that year's Mother Goose Stakes (G1) and sixth in the 2016 Delaware Handicap (G1).
Her 2017 season has shown Breen was right all along in thinking he had a more than capable runner on his hands. Owned by George Hall, Money'soncharlotte has won four of six starts this year and earned her graded triumph when she took the July 30 Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park in gate-to-wire fashion. Two starts after that victory, she posted a runner-up finish behind Elate in the Beldame Stakes (G1) Sept. 30 and was most recently second to multiple graded stakes winner Farrell in the Chilukki Stakes (G2) beneath the Twin Spires Nov. 4.
"She is just putting it all together and having a great year," Breen said prior to the Beldame. "She did run in the Kentucky Oaks, I know she was the longest shot on the board, but I think the caliber of running in the Kentucky Oaks makes you think that you have a nice horse, and it might be a year and a half late, but she has finally put it together."
Motown Lady joins Money'soncharlotte in wheeling back after a run in the Chilukki Stakes, having finished third in that one-mile test. The Bret Calhoun-trained daughter of Uncle Mo won an allowance race over the Churchill dirt surface in June—besting fellow Falls City entrant Blue Prize—before heading West for the summer where she earned a grade 1-placing with a third-place effort in the Zenyatta Stakes (G1).
Anytime Hall of Famer Bob Baffert puts one on a plane, attention is best paid. To that end, the veteran conditioner is sending stakes winner Faithfully to Churchill off her runner-up finish in the Zenyatta Stakes where the daughter of Smart Strike will attempt to earn her first graded victory.
Churchill Downs, Thursday, November 23, 2017, Race 10Entries: Falls City H. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Money'soncharlotte (KY)
Corey J. Lanerie
120
Kelly J. Breen
3/1
2
2Rachel's Temper (KY)
Ricardo Santana, Jr.
115
Brendan P. Walsh
15/1
3
3Weep No More (KY)
Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
115
George R. Arnold, II
20/1
4
4Faithfully (KY)
Robby Albarado
120
Bob Baffert
1/1
5
5Blue Prize (ARG)
James Graham
118
Ignacio Correas, IV
6/1
6
6Motown Lady (KY)
Joseph Rocco, Jr.
118
W. Bret Calhoun
5/1
7
7Tiger Moth (KY)
Florent Geroux
117
Brad H. Cox
10/1
