Chortle should appreciate class relief in sprint feature
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Chortle has raced mostly in stakes or stakes-quality allowance races in 2014-15, facing stakes-winning sprinters Spring Included, Street Story, Sugar Shock, and My Option, among others.
Now entered in a $54,000, second-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming condition in the sixth race Thursday at Churchill Downs, she is matched against significantly easier company. By racing for the claiming price, she is able to drop in class and face less-accomplished runners, making her the most likely winner in a dirt race going 6 1/2 furlongs.
A stakes-placed daughter of Posse with five victories and earnings of $179,553, she has more wins and a larger bankroll than any of her seven rivals. And after a quiet start to 2015, she comes off a sharp recent effort.
Racing in the $100,000 Carousel on April 8 at Oaklawn Park, she set a quick pace and crossed the wire third behind Spring Included and Street Story, only to be disqualified and placed fourth for veering in at the start and causing interference. Regardless, her performance was promising – her best of the year – and earned her an 83 Beyer Speed Figure, the top last-race Beyer in Thursday’s race.
Based in Chicago in prior years, Chortle now calls Churchill home. She raced at Churchill once before, finishing 11th in the Grade 3 Eight Belles in 2013 after going to the early lead.
Owned in partnership by Nancy Vanier, Cartwright Thoroughbreds, and Win Place Show-Me Racing, she is trained by Brian Williamson and ridden by Florent Geroux.
KEY CONTENDERS
Ducasa (Last 3 Beyers: 70-71-69)
◗ She enters this race off three consecutive fourth-place finishes but is favorably cut back in distance and should appreciate a return to Churchill, where she has a record of two wins from four starts.
Chortle (Last 3 Beyers: 83-56-71)
◗ Although placed fourth via disqualification in the Carousel, she picked up an earlier stakes placing with a nose loss in the Spring Fever Stakes when second last year at Oaklawn. That near miss earned her a 91 Beyer.
Engaginglee (Last 3 Beyers: 68-68-81)
◗ Unplaced in four starts since moving into the second-level allowance ranks, her connections try cutting her back in distance after racing in two-turn races.
◗ She is reunited with leading jockey Corey Lanerie, who has been up for both of her victories.