Sistercharlie First Two-Time Winner of Beverly D.
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coady Photography
Sistercharlie and John Velazquez deliver a repeat performance in the Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington International Racecourse
Sistercharlie piled record upon record Aug. 10 in the $600,000 Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) at Arlington International Racecourse, leaving her owner, trainer, and jockey searching for new superlatives and wondering where they can find new challenges.
The 5-year-old daughter of Myboycharlie not only became the first horse to win the Beverly D. twice, but also broke the course record for 1 3/16 miles, roaring home in 1:52.43.
It was her fifth straight win, all in grade 1 events.
"She's the horse of a lifetime," said trainer Chad Brown, who won all three of the day's grade 1 races and his fifth straight Beverly D. "It is such an honor to be associated with her."
"It's such an honor," echoed an awestruck Peter Brant, who has never seen Sistercharlie finish worse than second in eight starts since she arrived from France. "She tries her heart out."
Sistercharlie, under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, lagged behind breakaway leader Thais, also owned by Brant and trained by Brown, who set a merry clip over very firm turf, getting six furlongs in 1:09.66 and a mile in 1:34.55 before beginning to shorten stride.
Hitting the stretch, Velazquez and Sistercharlie sprinted by the leaders and quickly put matters to rest with plenty to spare. The final margin of victory was three lengths, with Awesometank, the lesser-regarded of two foreign contenders, finishing second.
Competitionofideas, Brown's third starter, was third and Fleeting finished fourth for trainer Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore connections.
Brant and Brown both acknowledged their, and their mare's, special connection to Arlington.
"She can run anywhere, but she sure does like Arlington," Brown said. "Mr. D. (Arlington Chairman Emeritus Richard L. Duchossois) said to me the other day that if I'd stay here, he'd pay me in real estate."
Asked where he will take Sistercharlie next, Brant said, "I don't know. We'd like to go to the Flower Bowl and then the Breeders' Cup."
Both the Beverly D. and the Flower Bowl (G1T), run Oct. 6 at Belmont Park, are Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" challenge races, meaning Sistercharlie won an automatic berth in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) with Saturday's score.
Sistercharlie won the championship race last year at Churchill Downs despite a bit of a rough trip, but Brant also indicated he might like even tougher competition.
"I'd like to run against Enable," he said. "It would be great for the sport."
The owner added he is not interested in taking Sistercharlie overseas, so any such encounter would have to come in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T)—a race champion Enable won in 2018 at Churchill Downs after scoring her second win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) at Longchamp. And the jury is still out over whether Enable will make a second trip to the U.S. for the Breeders' Cup, to be held this year Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita Park.
Brown expressed less desire to face the two-time Arc winner.
Sistercharlie, bred by Ecurie Des Monceaux out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, was trained in France by Henri-Alex Pantall. After winning a group 3 event in April 2017, she finished second to Senga in the 2018 Prix de Diane Longines (G1). She was shipped to Brown and ran second, beaten only a neck, in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1T) in her first U.S. start.
The disappointment in the Beverly D. was Fleeting. The 3-year-old Zoffany filly finished third in the Investec Oaks (G1) late May, then second in both the Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) at Ascot and the Kerrygold Irish Oaks (G1) at the Curragh before her visit to the Chicago area. She raced well back for jockey Ryan Moore and was gaining late but ran out of ground going shorter than the 1 1/2 miles of her last three starts.