Churchill Downs: Game On Dude, Will Take Charge set for showdown in Clark Handicap

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas have squared off countless times in major American races for almost two decades now. Among their most memorable matches was the 1996 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, where Grindstone was up in the last jump for Lukas to nail Cavonnier, robbing Baffert of what would have been his first Derby win.

Another dramatic chapter could be added to their storied rivalry Friday, when they send out the favorites under the lights in the signature race of the Churchill fall meet, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap.

Baffert will be in from California by way of a brief Thanksgiving holiday in Tennessee to saddle Game On Dude in this 139th running of the $500,000 Clark, while Lukas will make the short drive from his home in the Lake Forest neighborhood of Louisville to put the tack on Will Take Charge.[bc_video_id:311062:]

Both Hall of Fame trainers have been eagerly anticipating this season-ending showdown since the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where Game On Dude ran as poorly as Will Take Charge ran well.

“That wasn’t the real Game On Dude,” said Baffert, referring to how the 6-year-old gelding faded badly to finish ninth as the favorite in the Nov. 2 BC Classic at Santa Anita. “I’m expecting the real Dude to show up in this one.”

“We flat out should’ve won the Classic,” said Lukas, alluding to how Will Take Charge encountered traffic problems before closing with a rush to be beaten just a nose by the victorious Mucho Macho Man. “This would be a good cap to what’s turned into a great season for this horse.”

Game On Dude will carry the high weight of 126 pounds, and Will Take Charge will tote 123, which adheres precisely to the standard weight spread for older horses versus 3-year-olds in the fall of the year. The seven others were assigned 113 to 120.

True to their running styles, Game On Dude, with Mike Smith to ride, should be among the early flight after breaking from post 1 in the 1 1/8-mile Clark, while Will Take Charge (post 7, Luis Saez) figures to be rolling from the back.

Indeed, the stage is set for a thrilling finish as both horses seek to further their bids for divisional Eclipse Awards. Game On Dude was undefeated this season prior to his Classic clunker and still seems to have the edge among the handicap division, while Will Take Charge has ascended to the top of the 3-year-old ranks with a sensational second-half flurry that followed off-the-board finishes in all three Triple Crown events.

Lukas waved aside any notion that he is risking an Eclipse by running Will Take Charge one more time.

“I think he’s already sealed it,” he said. “I would rather take the position that the Clark is a significant race with Grade 1 status and a nice purse, and an opportunity to showcase our horse again. I almost wish there was more to the season because he is good right now. It’s a prestigious race in many ways.”

The Clark appears to have considerably less speed in its lineup than what showed up for the Classic, a development that would seem to favor Game On Dude – and a main reason Churchill oddsmaker Mike Battaglia reversed his earlier position and listed Game On Dude (8-5) as a slight morning-line favorite over Will Take Charge (9-5).

As far as race tactics go, Baffert said he would leave all that in Smith’s capable hands. “Mikey knows,” he said.

Two horses drawn to the outside, Our Double Play and Jaguar Paw, probably will emerge as early challengers to Game On Dude, with the foursome of Bourbon Courage, Golden Ticket, Prayer for Relief, and Easter Gift taking positions just behind them. Will Take Charge and another left-field closer, Finnegans Wake, figure to take up the rear.

The Clark is as old as the Derby and Kentucky Oaks, having been run annually since 1875. Baffert has won it twice, both times with older horses – Isitingood (1996) and Silver Charm (1998) – while Lukas’s lone victory came in 2000 with a 3-year-old, Surfside, one of just 12 fillies or mares to win the fall-meet cornerstone.

The Clark is carded as the 11th of 12 races on a day-after-Thanksgiving program that perennially draws the biggest crowd of the meet. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern, with the Clark going at 5:35 and the last race at 6:03. HRTV will provide extensive coverage.

This will be the fourth straight Clark run under the lights, and with the sun down, conditions will be very brisk. It has been unseasonably cold for almost a week in the Louisville area, and a daytime high of just 45 degrees is in the forecast for Friday.