Carmalley Chrome, R Luckey Charlie capture stakes for Indiana-breds
Carmalley Chrome led through a modest pace and won the $154,700 First Lady Stakes for Indiana-bred 3-year-old fillies on Wednesday at Indiana Grand. One race later, a fast early and middle pace cooked the front-runners and set up the $155,800 Governor’s Stakes for a pair of closers, with R Luckey Charlie nipping Badabing Badaboom in the race for Indiana-bred 3-year-olds.
Twice R Luckey Charlie had tried stakes competition and twice he had been soundly beaten, and after seven career starts, his two tries around two turns suggested R Luckey Charlie was better suited making one run in sprint races. But those two trains of thought ran off the tracks Wednesday, as R Luckey Charlie, racing in mid-pack under Richard Bracho, made a sustained run from the three-furlong pole to beat Badabing Badaboom by a nose. The top two were much the best on the day, with pacesetting Easy Doer 7 1/2 lengths farther back in third. Derby Express, the 3-2 favorite, came under heavy pressure before the quarter pole and couldn’t keep up with the top two, missing third by a neck.
Easy Doer, hounded by El Jake O – stablemate to Badabing Badaboom – set demanding splits of 22.87 and 46.22 seconds as Bracho waited on the rail with the eventual winner.
“My horse has been working really good,” Bracho said. “I had a good position today. At the half-mile, I knew I had a lot of horse.”
R Luckey Charlie ran one mile and 70 yards in 1:42.41 and paid $21.80. Bred and owned by Richard Batz and trained by Marvin Johnson, R Luckey Charlie is a son of Adios Charlie and the Lion Heart mare Thats Whatshesaid. He ran his career record to 8-3-0-2 and earned nearly $90,000, about $25,000 more than his bankroll before the race.
Carmalley Chrome, meanwhile, had run far below form due to a confluence of factors when she was eased June 22 in a division of the Hoosier Breeders Sophomore Stakes. Trainer Mike Nance said Carmalley Chrome had come into season before that race, and that a demanding schedule, five starts in less than two months, had caught up to the filly. To make matters worse, Carmalley Chrome, a dedicated front-runner, got caught up in a heated pace battle, and she was done by the far turn.
But Nance freshened her for the First Lady, and this race unfolded much more favorably for Carmalley Chrome, who broke smoothly under Rodney Prescott from post 1 and seized command over chasing Tequila and Salt through moderate splits of 24.38 and 48.29. Sassy Miss Officer launched a bid around the far turn, but Prescott sat stock still until Carmalley Chrome had straightened away for the finish, and despite a belated lead change, she held her pursuer at bay and won by 1 1/2 lengths.
“I was pleasantly surprised at the pace,” said Nance, who trains Carmalley Chrome for owner-breeder Tom Roche. “Worst case scenario I saw us and Tequila and Salt going 21 and 44.”
Sassy Miss Officer was one length better than Tequila and Salt, as Carmalley Chrome ($5.20) ran one mile and 70 yards in 1:42.64. Carmalley Cat, by Cat Dreams and out of Glisten, didn’t debut until this past spring, and has won 4 of 6 starts while earning nearly $200,000.