Take Charge Brandi keeps rolling with victory in Princess

VINTON, La. – Breeders’ Cup winner Take Charge Brandi furthered her case for an Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old filly Saturday, when she drove to a 1 1/2-length win over Skipalute in the Grade 3, $400,000 Delta Downs Princess. It was another length back in third to Majestic Presence.

The Princess was one of eight stakes on a card worth $2.3 million. The program also included the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot that Ocho Ocho Ocho ($7.20) won in a photo over Mr. Z.

Take Charge Brandi ($6.40) sat just off Vivian Da Bling in the early stages of the Princess, pressing that rival through fractions of 22.34 seconds for the opening quarter and 46.44 for the half-mile. Take Charge Brandi then engaged the leader into the final turn, withstood a bid from Skipalute, and after turning the latter back was diligent to the wire. Take Charge Brandi covered the mile on a fast track in 1:39.60.

“I think she’s getting more seasoned,” said winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas. “I don’t think she handled the racetrack as well as I thought [she would]. Her class carried her a little bit.”

Paco Lopez was aboard Take Charge Brandi for owner Willis Horton.

The talk after the Princess turned to the filly’s bid for an Eclipse Award.

“We think it sure moved us in the right direction,” Lukas said of the Princess performance from Take Charge Brandi.

Lukas said there is a chance Take Charge Brandi could run again this year in the Starlet at Los Alamitos.

With the Princess win, Take Charge Brandi earned 10 preference points toward the Kentucky Oaks. The runner-u p Skipalute picked up four points; the third-place finisher Majestic Presence earned two; and the fourth-place finisher Danessa Deluxe earned one. Take Charge Brandi also earned 10 points for her win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Take Charge Brandi now has won 3 of 7 starts. She earned $240,000 for her win in the Princess to push her earnings to $1,410,126. She is a daughter of Giant’s Causeway, and she was bred in Kentucky by Charming Syndicate.