After his champion filly's successful 3-year-old debut last month at Oaklawn Park, owner Willis Horton hinted that Take Charge Brandi might face male rivals soon.
Horton is still kicking around that idea, saying Tuesday that Take Charge Brandi might race next in Oaklawn's Grade 2 $750,000 Rebel March 14. The Rebel could evolve into an early-season test of champions with Eclipse Award-winning colt American Pharaoh expected to make his seasonal debut in the mile-and-sixteenth Kentucky Derby prep, offering 50 points to the winner for a possible start in the May 2 classic at Churchill Downs.
"It's a possibility; we're seriously thinking about it," Horton said.
Take Charge Brandi finished her 2-year-old season with consecutive graded victories in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (61-1 odds) at Santa Anita Park, the Delta Princess at Delta Downs and the Starlet at Los Alamitos.
Take Charge Brandi posted her fourth consecutive victory Jan. 31 in Oaklawn's $100,000 Martha Washington going one mile. That came two weeks after the daughter of Giant's Causeway-Charming received the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly, the second in two years for Horton, a retired housebuilder from Marshall.
Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas has targeted the May 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs as Take Charge Brandi's major spring objective, with additional preps in the Grade 3 $150,000 Honeybee March 7 and the Grade 3 $400,000 Fantasy April 4.
Take Charge Brandi is a Triple Crown nominee, however, and a strong Rebel performance would establish her as a Derby contender. Lukas won the 1988 Derby with the filly Winning Colors and saddled the only Arkansas Derby-winning filly, Althea in 1984.
"I've looked at all the figures and times," Horton said, "and we're talking about a $750,000 race compared to a purse of $150,000. Even if we run third, we still get more money than we would if she won the other race."
The Honeybee, also at a mile and a sixteenth, offers 85 points to the top four finishers for a possible start in the Oaks. No Derby points races are restricted to fillies, who must run against males in assigned preps to earn Derby points. Likewise, Take Charge Brandi's 40 points on the Oaks leaderboard are non-transferable to the Derby.
"If we win the Rebel we get the 50 points for it," Horton said, "and it puts us in a position where we can either go to the Kentucky Oaks or the Kentucky Derby."
Nominations close Friday for the Honeybee and March 6 for the Rebel.
American Pharaoh, owned by Ahmed Zayat and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, won back-to-back Grade 1 races in California before sidelined with an injury. In his last start, the Pioneerof the Nile colt defeated subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red in the FrontRunner at Santa Anita. American Pharaoh also is under consideration for the March 7 San Felipe at Santa Anita.
To avoid a scheduling conflict in the Rebel, Zayat plans to race the Lukas-trained Mr. Z, second and third in early-season Oaklawn stakes, in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby March 28 at Fair Grounds.
Both champions worked out Saturday, American Pharaoh going six furlongs in 1:12 2-5 at Santa Anita and Take Charge Brandi clocking five furlongs in a "bullet" 1:00 2-5 at Oaklawn. Breezing with two male stablemates, Take Charge Brandi worked over a good-rated surface moments before heavy rain hit the local track, eventually flooding parts of the infield.
Take Charge Brandi drifted out in the stretch of the Martha Washington but held on for a head victory over the fast-closing Sarah's Sis with Jon Court aboard. Purchased for $435,000 at the September 2013 Keeneland yearling sale, Take Charge Brandi has five wins and a second from nine starts with earnings of $1,680,126.
"She has put on weight and she's grown quite a bit and she's workin' out of the bridle," Horton said.
Far Right, the first to sweep the Smarty Jones (Jan. 19) and Southwest (Sunday), leads Oaklawn's male 3-year-old division but reportedly will pass the Rebel and return in the Arkansas Derby.
* Lukas said last weekend he plans to start Super Saks, an 11-length Oaklawn maiden winner Jan. 30, in the Honeybee. With Take Charge Brandi out, the race favorite could be Pangburn, an electrifying winner Friday at Oaklawn with a last-to-first charge in her 3-year-old debut. Ken McPeek trains Pangburn, a two-time winner and graded-stakes placed in her other start, for Hot Springs lumberman John Ed Anthony.
Sports on 02/26/2015