Sistercharlie would be first two-time Beverly D. winner.

Sistercharlie and Fleeting will be looking to buck historical trends as the top two morning-line choices Saturday at Arlington Park in the Grade 1, $600,000 Beverly D.

From 29 prior runnings, no filly or mare has won the Beverly D. more than once – and only one 3-year-old, Euro Charline in 2014, has ever won.

Sistercharlie, the 2018 winner and reigning Eclipse champion in the filly-mare turf division, surely will be a stout favorite when she looks to become the first two-time winner. Meanwhile, Fleeting seeks a mild upset for the Coolmore team and trainer Aidan O’Brien as the only 3-year-old in a field that could scratch down to seven, assuming Magic Wand runs in the Million after also being cross-entered by O’Brien in the Beverly D.

Rabbits assure honest pace in Million, Beverly D.

The early pace in both the Beverly D. and the Million could be set – at an honest clip, if not faster – by longshots whose owners are hoping to win those respective races with another horse.

Chad Brown acknowledged this week that Thais once again will serve as a rabbit, or pacesetter, for Sistercharlie in the Beverly D. Both 5-year-old mares are owned by Peter Brant.

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Similarly, Hunting Horn has been employed with regularity as a pacesetter in recent major races for other Coolmore runners, a role he once again could fill if in fact O’Brien opts for the Million with Magic Wand. As of Wednesday, no decision had yet been made on which race Magic Wand will contest.

Brown, jockeys on charter

Brown said he is booked on the same charter flight as jockeys John Velazquez, Javier Castellano, and Irad Ortiz Jr. The flight is scheduled to depart mid-morning from the Saratoga County Airport and arrive at the Chicago Executive Airport (formerly Palwaukee) in nearby Wheeling, just east of the track, sometime around noon local time, well ahead of the Grade 1 races to be run later in the day. The charter will return to Saratoga that evening.

Pucker Up on undercard

Besides the Million, Beverly D., and Grade 1 Secretariat, the Saturday card also includes one other graded turf race, the Grade 3 Pucker Up for 3-year-old fillies, as well as the ungraded Bruce D. Memorial, for 3-year-olds on Polytrack. Entries for the entire 12-race card were to be released Wednesday afternoon.