Strike Charmer goes after Lady Eli again in Flower Bowl

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Mark Hennig appears to have some nice young horses for Donald and Donna Adam’s Courtlandt Farm, but it is the 6-year-old mare Strike Charmer who might have given these connections their biggest thrill of the year when she won the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga.

Strike Charmer rallied from last in the field of seven in the Ballston Spa to outfinish Lady Eli, handing that filly her first defeat. Those two will meet again Saturday at Belmont Park in the Grade 1, $500,000 Flower Bowl, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

Hennig understood that the story regarding the Ballston Spa was about Lady Eli, who was making her first start in 14 months after overcoming laminitis. He doesn’t feel Strike Charmer got overlooked, even after the win.

“If anything, maybe she got more attention because she beat Lady Eli,” Hennig said. “Certainly, the hullaballoo about Lady Eli was for good reason. She was unbeaten, coming off a traumatic experience that a lot of horses don’t even survive, let alone make it back to the races.”

In the Flower Bowl, Strike Charmer will be attempting 1 1/4 miles for the first time. She has three victories at 1 1/8 miles.

“She was closing well those days,” said Hennig, noting that the added distance “can always have an effect on them.”

“You don’t know till you try,” he said. “It certainly seems more logical than going [shorter].”

Junior Alvarado rode Strike Charmer in the Ballston Spa, but he is at Keeneland on Saturday. Javier Castellano has picked up the mount on Strike Charmer, who will break from post 2.

Lady Eli drew post 5, and a stablemate, Beverly D. winner Sea Calisi, drew post 6. Others entered include Ame Bleue, Itsonlyactingdad, and Sentiero Italia.