Take Charge Brandi may run once more in Starlet

VINTON, La. – Take Charge Brandi might have strengthened her credentials for champion 2-year-old filly Saturday with her clear win in the Grade 3, $400,000 Delta Downs Princess, but the race also ended up showcasing her versatile nature. Take Charge Brandi stalked and rolled home by 1 1/2 lengths, one start after wiring the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies field at 61-1.

The win in the Princess was the second straight graded stakes score for Take Charge Brandi, who emerged from the race in excellent shape, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Sunday. Take Charge Brandi settled about a length off the pace in the Princess, and went on to cover the mile in 1:39.60. For her effort, Take Charge Brandi earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 85.

“I think in the Breeders’ Cup, everybody thought she was probably one-dimensional, that she would just blow down through there through those early fractions and just stop,” Lukas said. “She doesn’t stop. She gets bolder and bolder. But here, they hooked into her and it showed a new side of her, because she rated kindly. She clocked the speed, she put the speed away, met the challenge of a couple others coming up on her. She did everything right. I think she’s maturing into a really serious horse.”

The path Take Charge Brandi takes moving forward will be discussed with owner Willis Horton, Lukas said Sunday. An option is to make one additional start this year, in the Grade 1, $350,000 Starlet at Los Alamitos on Dec. 13. Take Charge Brandi is scheduled to fly back to her Churchill Downs base on Monday.

“We’ll get her home and re-evaluate the situation,” Lukas said. “We’re not ruling out the fact that she would run at Los Alamitos, because it is a Grade 1. It’s a very attractive purse and I’m familiar with the area and everything. It’s not a tough situation. We’ll talk it over.

“The reasons behind [running] would be No. 1, she’s very good right now. The purse is attractive, and it’s a Grade 1. I think when Grade 1’s in a filly’s [path] are sitting there and you think you can win ‘em, you ought to take advantage of them. There’s not that many out there.”

As for Take Charge Brandi and her bid for a championship, Lukas feels her case has been made for the Eclipse Award.

“For championship honors, I think she’s done enough,” he said Sunday. “We could rest on our laurels. I really believe we could. I think she’s done enough. She’s traveled coast to coast. She’s run on every racetrack, every race. And that’s what a champion should do. And I think that her credentials are good. If the Breeders’ Cup World Championships–in capital letters-are what they’re supposed to be, it should have been settled right there.”

Take Charge Brandi has now won 3 of 7 starts and $1,410,126. She debuted at Churchill Downs in June and won a maiden special weight sprint, then was Grade 3-placed at Saratoga before eventually reaching a pinnacle at Santa Anita in the Breeders’ Cup.

Delta Downs handled $5,203,555 on its 11-race Jackpot Day card from all sources on Saturday, up 3 percent from the same program a year ago and an all-time record for the track. Of the total handle amount, $152,510 was bet on-track Saturday at the small facility that opened in 1973.