Sistercharlie makes history in Beverly D. repeat

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Chad Brown imperiously lords over the Beverly D. Stakes and his current queen, Sistercharlie, sits on the highest throne.

Sistercharlie became the first two-time Beverly D. winner when she smoked 1 3/16-miles in a course-record 1:52.43 and beat Awesometank by three lengths on Saturday at Arlington. Sistercharlie’s two-timer gave Brown five wins in a row (and six overall) in one of North America’s best filly-and-mare turf races.

“She’s the horse of a lifetime, really, one of the best I’ve ever trained,” said Brown, whose previous Beverly D. winners were Dacita, Sea Calisi, Watsdachances, and Stacelita. “I think she’s headed to the Hall of Fame sometime.”

Brown trains Sistercharlie for owner Peter Brant, who acquired her from France during her 3-year-old season. Sistercharlie was good in France but has been better since joining Brown’s powerhouse stable. This was her sixth Grade 1 win in North America and fifth victory in a row, and Sistercharlie’s two defeats in the U.S., both second-place finishes, came by a head and a neck.

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No one was beating Sistercharlie ($2.80) on Saturday. Under regular rider John Velazquez she dropped quickly toward the tail of the field as the horses passed the stands the first time and her Brown-trained, Brant-owned stablemate, Thais, went out to assure a quick pace. Over a firm, very fast-playing course, Thais ripped off an opening quarter mile in 22.76 seconds, went a half in 46.23 and three-quarters in 1:09.66, and still had a clear lead as she bent into the homestretch.

By then the pack was closing in, Awesometank and Florent Geroux making the first move at the pacesetter. Geroux thought he was getting a key first run on the favorite before quickly being disabused of the notion.

“I’m like, [Sistercharlie] is too far behind, I don’t think she’s going to catch me,” Geroux said. “Then, boom, three jumps and she’s past me.”

“I was very confident,” Velazquez said. “The horse to beat [Fleeting] I thought was behind me, and I was a little more patient. At the three-eighths pole, normally I start passing there. I made sure she went on, and she did it right away.

The mile split went in 1:34.55 on the way to the course-record 1:52.43 eclipsing the 1:53.16 Bandua ran in the Arlington Handicap here last month. Course records nearly always result in great part from fast-playing surfaces, as Arlington’s was Saturday, but in this case, the record-holder is exceedingly worthy.

Competitionofideas finished third, two lengths behind Awesometank. Fleeting, the second choice, had too much to do late and though she came home well could only get fourth.

Sistercharlie, by Myboycharlie out of Starlet’s Sister, by Galileo, ended her season with a scintillating score over Wild Illusion in a Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare turf contested over soft ground she didn’t like. Set to make her 2019 debut at Keeneland in April, Sistercharlie got sick, forcing Brown to recalibrate, the trainer eventually awaiting the Grade 1 Diana on July 13 at Saratoga. Sistercharlie flew home there to a comfortable win, not missing a beat despite the long break, and she appeared to be equally brilliant again Saturday, running her record to 9-3-0 from 13 starts.

Sistercharlie last year went straight from the Beverly D. to the Breeders’ Cup, but Brown said after the race the mare could have an interim start this season in the Flower Bowl at Belmont before going on to a Breeders’ Cup race at Santa Anita.

“She can run well anywhere, but she sure does love Arlington,” said Brown.

So does her trainer.