Oaklawn Park: Will Take Charge breezes for Gulfstream's Donn Handicap

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said champion Will Take Charge is “on target” for the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 9 after the horse worked six furlongs from the gate Sunday at his base of Oaklawn Park. The race will be his first start at age 4. Will Take Charge closed out his championship 3-year-old season with a win in the Grade 1 Clark at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.

Will Take Charge went in 1:14.80 under regular exercise rider Rudy Quevedo. He is to be ridden in the Donn by Luis Saez, who was aboard for the Clark as well as for the horse’s runner-up finish in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Clockers on Sunday had Will Take Charge’s opening three-eighths in 36.40 seconds and the half-mile in 49.40.

“We were just trying to get a little more condition on him,” Lukas said. “He hadn’t run in two months, so we asked him to do a little bit more. We kicked him out of the gates, sharpened him a little bit. I was real pleased with it. I think we’re right on target.”

Lukas, who had been working to make suitable flight arrangements from Arkansas to Florida for Will Take Charge, said Sunday the horse will van to Gulfstream. Will Take Charge is to ship seven to eight days in advance of the race. Lukas said he has been pleased with the horse’s preparation for the Donn, which includes a five-furlong work in 1:00.60 on Jan. 20 and a bullet breeze at the same distance in 1:02 on Jan. 12.

“If I had to run him today, I think I wouldn’t change anything,” Lukas said. “I really feel comfortable where I’m at. He’s doing very, very well. I’m very comfortable with where he’s at.”

Will Take Charge will race this year for Willis Horton and Three Chimneys LLC. He was named champion 3-year-old of 2013 for a campaign that included wins in the Travers, Pennsylvania Derby, and Rebel Stakes.