Sistercharlie shines brightest in Brant's constellation of stars

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Peter Brant has owned such magnificent horses as Kentucky Derby winner Swale and champions Gulch and Waya. So, when he says that Sistercharlie is “the best horse I’ve ever owned” it carries significant weight.

“She’s an outstanding, outstanding horse, and I don’t say that lightly,” Brant said of the 2018 female turf champion. “I’ve been very fortunate to have some really top horses but never had a horse that was as consistent and as hard-trying as her, and she had a bit of bad luck. She had pneumonia a couple of times. She’s a very special mare.”

It takes a special mare to win seven Grade 1 stakes as Sistercharlie has done in two seasons racing in the United States under the guidance of trainer Chad Brown. She fell a neck short of another Grade 1 stakes back in 2017.

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Brant gets such enjoyment at watching Sistercharlie run that, instead of retiring her at the end of last year, he is bringing her back for a 6-year-old campaign that belatedly begins in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga.

“She’s exceptional, and you don’t get a horse like that who’s exceptional so often,” said Brant, 73. “I asked the veterinarians what they thought, and they thought if we gave her some time she could come back.”

In 2019, Sistercharlie scored repeat victories in the Diana at Saratoga, Beverly D. at Arlington, and then won the Flower Bowl at Belmont, a race she missed in 2018 due to a foot bruise.

Sistercharlie ended 2019 on a disappointing note when she finished third as the 4-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Brant said Sistercharlie didn’t seem to handle the “bullring” of a turf course at Santa Anita and came out of the race with some bone bruising.

Brant didn’t like the way her campaign ended and still thought her three Grade 1 victories were enough to earn a second straight Eclipse Award as female turf champion, an honor that ended up going to two-time Grade 1 winner Uni, who had won the Breeders’ Cup Mile against the boys.

Brant said Sistercharlie was likely going to have a four- or five-race campaign this year that was supposed to begin in April with the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that race was moved from April to July. The Ballston Spa was not on the original calendar for Sistercharlie, but it became a good return spot to be used as a prep for the Grade 1 Diana, typically run this weekend, but now moved to Aug. 23.

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Brant said winning a third consecutive Diana is another reason he brought Sistercharlie back in 2020.

“No horse has ever done that,” Brant said. “It’s one of my favorite races.”

Five horses have won two consecutive runnings of the Diana – run on dirt until 1974 – the most recent being Forever Together, who fell a head shy of a third straight win in 2010.

Brant was hoping for a shot at a third straight Beverly D., but Arlington Park canceled that race this year.

After the two races at Saratoga, Sistercharlie could either run in the Flower Bowl again at Belmont in the fall or train up to the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland in early November. While the Filly and Mare Turf, run this year at 1 3/16 miles, is the most likely spot for Sistercharlie, Brant said he’s often thought about running her 1 1/2 miles, the distance of the BC Turf against males.

Another mare who could be pointing to the BC Turf is Enable, who won that race in 2018 at Churchill Downs. Would Brant want to run Sistercharlie against a proven 12-furlong horse such as Enable?

“It depends,” Brant said. “Rather than go in the mile-and-a-half race, I’d rather her be a double champion.”

Brant said Sistercharlie would definitely be retired at the end of the year and, most likely, she’ll be bred to Dubawi, the first United Kingdom-based stallion to sire 100 group winners.

Sistercharlie will face only four rivals in Saturday’s Ballston Spa, including stablemate North Broadway, who is likely entered to ensure some pace in the race. Starship Jubilee, Canada’s reigning Horse of the Year, is 3 for 3 in 2020 and is the major threat. Bramble Queen, Call Me Love, and main-track-only entrant Another Broad complete the field.