One Sweet Racy faces strong field in Charger Bar Handicap

One Sweet Racy has been a model of consistency in stakes for Quarter Horse fillies and mares at Los Alamitos in the last six months, winning two stakes and finishing second in another.

One Sweet Racy will need to maintain that form to have any chance of winning Sunday’s $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap for fillies and mares at 400 yards at Los Alamitos, a race with remarkable depth.

The field of 10 includes the first three finishers of the Las Damas Handicap on Nov. 24 – Love to Reason Br, Thermonuclear Energy, and Jess Mas; Kiddy Up Cowgirl, who won the 2018 Charger Bar; and the stakes winners A Political Lady and Matilda Czech, who were third and fourth in the $925,100 Los Alamitos Super Derby on Nov. 11.

Tickle Ur Fancy, second by a nose to One Sweet Racy in the $100,000 AQHA Challenge Distaff Championship on Dec. 2, is another contender, seeking to add to a remarkable record of 14 wins in 26 starts.

One Sweet Racy, a 5-year-old mare by One Sweet Jess, races for Johnny Trotter and trainer Chris O’Dell. Trotter’s Bodacious Eagle won the $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 15, the leading race for older horses in the nation.

One Sweet Racy has won 4 of 17 starts and earned $370,423. She has been in the best form of her career since joining O’Dell’s stable last summer, winning an allowance race in July and the California Distaff Challenge on Aug. 12 before finishing second in the $100,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap on Sept. 23.

The Challenge Distaff Championship was scheduled for Nov. 17, but the race was declared a no-contest after a gate malfunction. The same 10 fillies and mares started on Dec. 2, with One Sweet Racy prevailing by the slimmest of margins.

O’Dell also starts A Political Lady and Thermonuclear Energy, who had trouble in their last starts. A Political Lady was sixth as the 8-5 favorite in the Southern California Derby on Dec. 14 after she stumbled at the start and was bumped by rivals.

Thermonuclear Energy was beaten a head in the Las Damas after she was bumped at the start. She recovered to take the lead but could not sustain the advantage. Thermonuclear Energy was second by a neck in the 2018 Charger Bar.

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