Will Take Charge to carry high weight in Stephen Foster
Will Take Charge won’t take Saturday’s Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs lightly
The 3-year-old champion was assigned to carry 123 pounds by Churchill’s racing office, at least five more than any of eight probable rivals and two other possibilities.
Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Will Take Charge headlines a field also expected to include Departing, Revolutionary and Moonshine Mullin, who last time out won the Grade II Alysheba on Kentucky Oaks Day.
While each of those contenders will carry 118 pounds in the $500,000 Foster, others include Golden Ticket (117), Prayer for Relief (117), Long River (115) and Mylute (115). Possible starters are Bellarmine (115) and Carve (114).
The Stephen Foster, a 1 1/8-mile dirt race for 3-year-olds and up, is part of Saturday’s Downs After Dark card. A victory ensures entry to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic this November at Santa Anita.
Will Take Charge ran sixth in the Alysheba his last time out, failing to fire late. This year he’s won the Grade II Oaklawn Handicap and finished runner-up in Grade I company twice.
• Trainer Gary “Red Dog” Hartlage’s On Fire Baby is the expected favorite in Saturday’s $200,000-added Grade II Fleur De Lis. The La Troienne winner on Kentucky Derby Day was assigned 122 pounds and should face rivals Fiftyshadesofhay (121), Flashy American (118), Molly Morgan (116), Ondine (116) and Frivolous (114) in the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares 3 years old and up
• The Grade III Matt Win, a $100,000-added race measuring 1 1/16 miles, will include trainer Pat Byrne’s Almost Famous, who beat older horses his last time out in allowance competition. Calvin Borel will ride the 3-year-old colt by Unbridled’s Song. As of Monday, five others were listed by Churchill Downs as likely: Tapiture, Conquest Titan, Cleburne, The Admiral and Ulbanator.
• The fourth stakes race on Churchill’s Saturday card, the Grade III Regret for 3-year-old fillies, will include Kiss Moon as the Dave Vance-trained daughter of Malibu Moon looks to bounce back from a 12th-place finish in the Oaks. Other likely entries for the 1 1/8-mile turf test are A Little Bit Sassy, Aurelia’s Belle, Daring Dancer, Personal Diary, Share the Sugar, Tepin and V V Goodnight.
• General a Rod, the Belmont Stakes’ seventh-place finisher, arrived back at his Churchill Downs base on Sunday with Medal Count (third behind Tonalist) and Commanding Curve (ninth). A report in the Daily Racing Form indicated New York stewards are looking into whether trainer Mike Maker brought General a Rod to the assembly barn in proper time before Saturday’s race. If determined he arrived late or the horse was left unattended by security, he could face disqualification.
Medal Count trainer Dale Romans and Maker had a “heated exchange” about the matter during which “Romans used language that Maker found inappropriate, especially considering he had his children with him,” reported the Daily Racing Form’s David Grening. “At one point, Maker turned to Romans and said ‘my help screwed up,’ regarding his arrival to the assembly barn.”
• Two-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder came out of Saturday’s Grade I Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park with a deep gash in her left hind leg, according to the Paulick Report. Beholder finished fourth in the race, a length behind winner Close Hatches.
Trainer Richard Mandella said Beholder would miss a minimum six weeks of training. He was also concerned about infection.
“After the race (jockey Gary Stevens) said it felt typical like a horse who didn’t like the sandy Eastern tracks, which is the easiest excuse,” Mandella told the Paulick Report. “Then we how deep it was. Things happen in a race; we just hope it doesn’t amount to anything more serious.”
Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199; follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.