SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There are those who have posited that 1 1/8-mile dirt races can offer the right front-runner – one who can stay a true route of ground – a grand opportunity, and that ripping through fast fractions, rather than backing up the pace, is the right way to take full advantage of a horse’s speed. And that is precisely how Bernietakescharge went about capturing the $200,000 Critical Eye Stakes on Wednesday at Saratoga. Hustled out of the gate by Manny Franco, Bernietakescharge made an early lead, but not an easy lead, crossing over to the rail before the first turn, whereupon Landed, another front-running type who’d also broken well, switched outside to apply pressure. The opening quarter-mile went in 23.26, and when the half came up 46.26 after a demanding 22.90 second quarter, Dominick Schettino, Bernietakescharge’s trainer, was concerned. That concern intensified with six furlongs posted in 1:10.26 as Schettino saw Vatellina closing rapidly on Bernietakescharge, who had already disposed of the exhausted favorite, Landed. When a capable horse goes as fast as Bernietakescharge did Wednesday, the chasers, like Vatellina, have to expend a lot of energy just trying to catch up to the pacesetter. And if the pacesetter stays, and is game, as Bernietakescharge was in the Critical Eye, it’s often the horse behind them that runs out of gas. And so it was in the Critical Eye, Bernietakescharge going away through the final half-furlong to beat Vatellina by 1 3/4 lengths and win the Critical Eye for the second year in a row. “She keeps fighting. No matter how fast she went, when they come to her she wants to accelerate and open up again,” said Schettino, who trains Bernietakescharge for her breeders, Robert Rosenthal, and Bradford Bernstein. :: Get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts. Available each race day at Saratoga. Walk With Me finished third, six lengths behind Vatellina. Landed faded to sixth, more than 20 lengths behind the winner, as Bernietakescharge ran 1:47.63 over a fast track. She paid $8.58 as the third choice. Five-year-old Bernietakescharge won for the eighth time in 23 starts and has earned more than $700,000. She’s by Take Charge Indy out of the Freud mare Berning Rose, whom Schettino also trained. The mare, Schettino said, kind of wants to do everything fast. She can train too strongly, get worked up before a race. Bernietakescharge just wants things her own way, not matter how fast she has to run to do so. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.