Oaklawn Handicap: Will Take Charge faces double team
Coach D. Wayne Lukas probably would be the first to tell you that the best way to handle the opposition’s star player is to employ a double team. That is exactly what his former pupil Todd Pletcher will do when he sends out Revolutionary and Golden Lad to tackle Lukas’s champion Will Take Charge in Saturday’s $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap.
The battle between Lukas and Pletcher is just one of the subplots in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, which also brings together Will Take Charge and Moreno for the fourth time in their careers. Will Take Charge came out on top in all three previous meetings, including a nose victory in the Grade 1 Travers. After that race, Moreno’s trainer, Eric Guillot, claimed that Will Take Charge’s rider, Luis Saez, had used an electrical device during the race. Those charges were dismissed following an investigation by the New York State Gaming Commission.
Will Take Charge, the reigning 3-year-old champion, is still seeking his first victory at 4, having finished second in both the Grade 1 Donn and Grade 1 Santa Anita handicaps in his two starts this season. Will Take Charge capped off his Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old campaign with a victory over Game On Dude in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap, which came on the heels of his heartbreaking nose setback behind Mucho Macho Man in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.[bc_video_id:320976:]
“His last two starts were out of town,” said Lukas, referring to the Donn at Gulfstream Park and the Santa Anita Handicap. “We went on the winners’ home courts and caught tracks that were really souped up. I don’t think those racetracks were conducive to a horse that has to come from out of it like we did, and yet we still ran very credible.”
Will Take Charge figures to have plenty of pace to run at in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap, with Golden Lad, Moreno, and Right to Vote all at their best when on or near the lead.
“I think Will Take Charge is coming into this race better than his last two starts,” said Lukas. “We’ve got two under our belt, I feel like he’s home, and I think he’s just stronger and better right now.”
Golden Lad will try to stretch his win streak to five, while Revolutionary seeks to rebound from a disappointing effort.
Golden Lad began his streak with a 1 1/4-length optional-claiming win at Gulfstream in November and is coming off his best effort yet, a 6 3/4-length triumph at Oaklawn in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap.
“It took him a little time to find his rhythm, but he keeps getting better and better, and I was very pleased with the way he handled the step up into graded stakes company and with the way he handled the track at Oaklawn in the Razorback,” Pletcher said. “Based on the strength of that effort, it’s worth coming back and trying a Grade 1, although this race is definitely a lot tougher, especially going up against Will Take Charge on his home court.”
Revolutionary was among the leaders of the 3-year-old division last spring following his victory in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and subsequent third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. But he is coming off the poorest performance of his career, a seventh-place finish behind Lea and Will Take Charge in the Donn.
“I’m just hoping the Donn was one of those Gulfstream trips that doesn’t work out for horses who want to come from off the pace going two turns with all the kickback,” said Pletcher. “He’s trained well since then. We know he’s better than that and just hope he can reproduce one of his ‘A’ races on Saturday.”
Moreno has not started since finishing far back after contesting the early pace in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A son of Ghostzapper, Moreno won the Grade 2 Dwyer before finishing behind Will Take Charge on three consecutive occasions when third in the Jim Dandy, second in the Travers, and second in the Pennsylvania Derby.
Prayer for Relief, a winner of almost $1.6 million, will make his first start since being transferred to trainer Dale Romans earlier this season. Prayer for Relief’s most notable victories came as a 3-year-old for trainer Steve Asmussen in the Grade 2 West Virginia Derby and Grade 2 Louisiana Super Derby.
– additional reporting by Mary Rampellini