Take Charge Brandi Shocks Juvenile Fillies

Longshot Take Charge Brandi took the field gate to wire to score a 61-1 stunner in the $2 million 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park .



The longest hope in the 12-horse field, the 2-year-old daughter of Giant's Causeway  —Charming, by Seeking the Gold, took charge as the field headed down the grandstand side for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile main track test while being tailed by 52-1 shot Hennythelovepenny and By the Moon.



Ridden by Victor Espinoza for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who won his record 20th World Championships event, Take Charge Brandi carved out fractions of :22.22, :45.91, and 1:10.07. After stopping the timer in 1:35.39 for a mile, the filly continued to hold sway in the stretch as the field closed, but there was no catching her.



Take Charge Brandi completed the distance in 1:41.95 and paid $125.40, $51.40, and $24.80. Top Decile closed for second, a half length back, paying $7.20 and $5.40. A length back in third was Wonder Gal at $9.40. Angela Renee, the grade I winner who was the 3-1 favorite, finished 10th..

The top pair combined for a $1 exacta payoff of $778.60 and the top three returned $11,309 for the $1 trifecta.

The victory was the second in six starts for Take Charge Brandi, who has now earned $1,170,126 with the $1.1 million winner's share. Her previous win was in her debut against maidens at Churchill Downs, which was followed by a second in the Schuylerville Stakes (gr. III). In her two starts previous to the Breeders' Cup, Take Charge Brandi was unplaced in the Pocahontas (gr. II) at Churchill and the Darley Alcibiades (gr. I) at Keeneland.



Take Charge Brandi was bred in Kentucky by Charming Syndicate and was purchased by Willis Horton for $435,000 from the Paramount Sales consignment to the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale.



Horton and Lukas teamed to campaign $3.9 million earner and 2013 champion 3-year-old Will Take Charge  , who finished second in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I).

"Wayne (trainer Lukas) just told me to let her run and I did that," Espinoza said. "I hit her once and she didn't seem to like it, so I didn't hit her anymore and I just let her do her thing."

 

"I thought she had a great week, and today I thought we could be a factor, not that we would win it, but that we would do very swell," Lukas said. "This is the most exciting one (win) yet."

 

"We had a good trip," jockey Rosie Napravnik said of her ride on the runner-up. "I got through the first turn without losing much ground, but I had to go about three-wide on the second turn. I think the track was playing a little differently today than it was yesterday and she was running against the bias. She finished well. She's a good filly."

 

"She ran her eyeballs out," said Bill Lawrence, co-owner of Top Decile. "Rosie (jockey Napravnik) did a great job. You want to win these races, but we're happy we have a nice filly. She's done nothing wrong. To be able to make that kind of move from the outside and go that many more lengths, you've got to be happy. You want to win these races, but there was nothing wrong with that effort."



"Brilliant trip; just tough to get by," Mike Smith said of his effort on Wonder Gal. "I thought I got second, but she got headed out. I really can't complain. She ran great."