Girl Named Charlie holds off Beautifulnavigator in LaCombe Memorial
Girl Named Charlie gave a trainer named Tom Amoss his second straight win in the $75,000 Allen “Black Cat” LaCombe Memorial Stakes.
Girl Named Charlie surged to the lead in midstretch after racing from midpack, narrowly holding off an attempted last-to-first rally from Beautifulnavigator to win this turf route for 3-year-old fillies by a head.
Edgar Morales, the go-to jockey for Amoss, who won the 2022 LaCombe with Kneesnhips, rode the winner for owners Jerry Caroom and Jeffery Lambert. Girl Named Charlie, coming off a Jan. 16 Fair Grounds maiden win, her first start around two turns, is a daughter of Maclean’s Music and Dynarama, by Dynaformer.
In her maiden win, Girl Named Charlie made a big move from the five-sixteenths pole to win going comfortably, but in the LaCombe, she was all out to hold clear a determined bid from another last-start maiden winner, Beautifulnavigator.
The runner-up knifed between horses in upper stretch and finished inside Girl Named Charlie, just falling short of victory while a half-length clear of 3-5 favorite Chop Chop. Winning time for one mile on firm going with the temporary rail set at 34 feet, as has been the case all meet, was 1:42.87. Girl Named Charlie paid a generous $15.80 thanks to the heavy win betting on Chop Chop.
“She’s got a great closing kick and she showed it today,” Amoss said.
Great seems somewhat strong – but definitely good enough to win the Black Cat Lacombe on a March Saturday in New Orleans.
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