Charge It returns after seven months on the sidelines
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It wasn’t only the people around him. Charge It won the Dwyer Stakes in such spectacular fashion last summer that everyday racing fans were excited about what the future held for him, too.
Unfortunately, as the weeks and months unfolded, his future kept getting delayed. The Travers, Pennsylvania Derby, and Breeders’ Cup Classic all went by the wayside.
“It was an impressive performance,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, alluding to the 111 Beyer Speed Figure that resulted from Charge It’s 23-length romp in the Grade 3 Dwyer on July 2 at Belmont Park. “But during the race he grabbed a quarter, and we ended up having a lot of complications with that. Unfortunately, only time could really get us to where we wanted to be with him.”
Bred and owned by the Whisper Hill Farm of Mandy Pope, Charge It was sent from New York to the farm’s Ocala division, eventually returning to light training prior to showing up on the Palm Beach Downs work tab with a half-mile breeze Jan. 1. Four timed workouts later, the 4-year-old colt was pronounced fit to race by Pletcher, and now his eagerly awaited comeback will come Sunday in a second-level allowance at Gulfstream Park. The gray Tapit colt was schooled in the paddock before and during the eighth race here Thursday exuding all the class and vitality one would expect.
“He’s trained super,” Pletcher said. “We were looking at what options we had to bring him back, and we thought about the Hooper,” a Grade 3 race run on the Jan. 28 Pegasus card at Gulfstream. “But I thought he probably needed one more breeze, and this allowance option made sense.
“Obviously, we have high hopes for him. This is a starting point to a successful 4-year-old campaign, hopefully. We’re happy to have him back and get him going again.”
Before the Dwyer breakthrough, Charge It raced four times. He knocked out his maiden condition here in his second start last February, then was second to White Abarrio in the Florida Derby prior to finishing 17th at 16-1 odds in the Kentucky Derby.
Charge It, with Luis Saez riding from post 6 in a field of seven older horses, figures as one of the most lopsided favorites of the Gulfstream winter. He is listed at 3-5 on Pete Aiello’s morning line for the eighth of nine races, a $73,000 allowance going 1 1/16 miles. There’s also $14,000 available in bonuses for Florida-breds, although longshot Clapton is the only eligible starter.
In filling out the vertical wagers under Charge It, one logical play is Vittorio (post 7, Martin Garcia), who returns from an even longer layoff than Charge It. Owned by Kaleem Shah, Vittorio will be making his first start since being turned over to Bill Mott, who has sent him through nine timed works since late November at his Payson Park winter base. When based in California with Simon Callaghan, Vittorio won 2 of 7 starts, with his most recent race coming in April.
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Garcia currently is based at Oaklawn Park. His agent, Jake Romans, said Shah, who knows Garcia from time spent together in Southern California, reached out to him for the mount.
Maiden and claiming races fill out the balance of the Sunday card. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern, with the feature set for 3:37. After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark until another five-day week resumes Wednesday.
◗ In what was likely his final ride at Gulfstream, star European jockey Frankie Dettori won the sixth race Thursday aboard favored Musical Design ($3.80) for trainer Wesley Ward.
Dettori, 52, has announced that this is final year of riding.
“It was nice to finish here with a winner for my good friend Wesley,” said Dettori, who is riding regularly this winter at Santa Anita. Dettori’s greatest win at Gulfstream came in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Turf aboard Daylami.
◗ Dubyuhnell, a last-out winner of the Grade 2 Remsen and one of the likely favorites for the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes next Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, had a final pre-race workout early Friday at Palm Beach Downs in Delray Beach, going a half-mile in 51.20 seconds.
Palm Beach Downs is located in close proximity to the Palm Meadows training center, which was closed for training starting Tuesday morning through at least Friday for emergency resurfacing. Trainer Danny Gargan shipped the Good Magic colt from his Palm Meadows winter base for the work.
◗ City Man, 12th and last when beaten just five lengths as the 7-2 favorite in the Pegasus Turf last weekend, has been turned out for a brief respite at Two Springs, the Ocala-area farm of co-owner Dean Reeves. A two-back winner of the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream, the 6-year-old New York-bred is expected back in action this summer, Reeves said.
◗ Twin turf sprints for older horses will be run next Saturday as highlights of the coming week. Those races are the Grade 3, $125,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint and the $100,000 Ladies’ Turf Sprint.
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