Charge It tries softer company in Suburban

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher was originally planning to train Charge It up to next month’s Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga. But Saturday’s Grade 2, $350,000 Suburban Stakes looked too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Charge It is just one of two graded stakes winners in a five-horse Suburban field. Clapton is the other graded winner, having won the Grade 3 Ghostzapper at Gulfstream in April.

Charge It, who beat Clapton in a Gulfstream allowance race in February, has been beaten in three consecutive stakes. After running second to Endorsed in the Gulfstream Park Mile, Charge It was fifth in the Oaklawn Handicap, and fourth to Cody’s Wish in the Metropolitan Handicap.

At Oaklawn, Pletcher said Charge It “didn’t break great and he got a little headstrong early on and I think that kind of compromised him.”

In the Met Mile, Charge It attended a strong pace and finished an even fourth under John Velazquez.

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“I thought his last race he ran very well, it was just a super tough race,” Pletcher said. “He ran hard. Johnny thought he should have maybe let him go on a little earlier were his comments after the race. I just think he ran into a really, really top horse at the moment and didn’t disgrace himself by any means.”

Charge It, who won the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes here by 23 lengths here last year, looks like he could be the controlling speed under Velazquez on Saturday.

“This looks like an opportunity to maybe use his speed a little bit and get into a comfortable rhythm and see what he can do,” Pletcher said.

Charge It breaks from post 4.

Tonal Impact comes into the race off two allowance wins for Linda Rice, who claimed the horse last November for $40,000.

“I think he’s run really well recently at Belmont because he’s a really big, tall, leggy horse and the big, wide, sweeping turns definitely play to his strength,” Rice said.

Jose Ortiz rides Tonal Impact from the rail.

Following his victory in the Grade 3 Ghostzapper, Clapton finished third to Rattle N Roll in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 19.

Emisael Jaramillo rides Clapton from post 3.

Unbridled Bomber, trained by Jim Ryerson, won an allowance by nine lengths two back that would make him a contender in this spot. But he followed that with a fourth-place finish behind Repo Rocks in the Grade 3 Westchester. He does get Irad Ortiz Jr. Saturday.

Red Run is 2 for 16 but his last two starts at 1 1/2 miles – a runner-up finish in the Isaac Murphy at Churchill on May 3 and a third in the Brooklyn here on June 10 – produced the 4-year-old Gun Runner colt’s two best Beyer Speed Figures.

Tyler Gaffalione rides Red Run from post 2 for Mike Maker.

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