Cinco Charle registers sixth stakes win in William Walker
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This early in their careers, there aren’t many 3-year-olds that already have run in 10 stakes – and won six of them.
But that’s what the old pro Cinco Charlie already has accomplished. Leading every step of a six-furlong journey, the 3-year-old colt rolled home a 1 1/2-length winner under Ricardo Santana Jr. in the $100,000 William Walker Stakes, the Saturday night feature at Churchill Downs, where a 38-day spring meet began with an 11-race Downs After Dark program.
Senor Grits finished second, a half-length before Blofeld, the 4-5 favorite who was making his first start in nearly six months after winning all three starts as a 2-year-old. Rounding out the order were Henry Jones, Weast Hill, and Holiday Camp.
Trained by Steve Asmussen for Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Cinco Charlie returned $7.40 as second choice in a field of six 3-year-olds after finishing in 1:10.86 over a main track rated “ good.”
Cinco Charlie, a Kentucky-bred by Indian Charlie, won the Grade 3 Bashford Manor in his second career start here last June and has never run in anything but stakes since then, having also won ungraded stakes at Delaware, Laurel, Fair Grounds, and Sunland. He now is 7 for 11 overall.
“He’s a professional racehorse,” said Asmussen assistant Scott Blasi. “He ran his race today, just like he always does.”
The $2 exacta (4-3) paid $42.20, the $1 trifecta (4-3-2) returned $49.70, and the 10-cent superfecta (4-3-2-1) was worth $22.18.
This was the inaugural running of the William Walker. It replaced the traditional opening-night feature, the Derby Trial, which has been renamed the Pat Day Mile and moved to the Kentucky Derby undercard.
The two races scheduled for turf Saturday night both were transferred to the main track early in the day because of the threat of severe weather. Although some surrounding regions were subjected to tornado warnings and heavy rain and hail, fans on hand here only had to endure intermittent drizzle and moderate wind during the course of the evening.