Take Charge Milady lands Oaks points with Martha Washington victory
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Take Charge Milady picked up 20 points for the Kentucky Oaks on Saturday, when she powered to a 5 3/4-length win over 1-2 favorite Quietside in the $300,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park. It was another three lengths back in third to Legal Empress.
The race rewarded its first five finishers points on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2. The field was rounded out by Gowells Delight in fourth and Adeera in fifth. Her Laugh was an early scratch from the Martha Washington.
Take Charge Milady ($7.20) settled off the pace set by Legal Empress, who took the field through fractions of 24.35 seconds for the opening quarter and 48.79 for the half-mile, with Quietside in third. Take Charge Milady moved to the fore through six furlongs in 1:13.62 and increased her advantage to the wire to cover the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:46.81.
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Julien Leparoux was aboard for trainer Kenny McPeek, who won last year’s Martha Washington with Band of Gold and last year’s Kentucky Oaks with eventual Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna.
Take Charge Milady races for James Ball, Magdalena Racing, and Kenneth Rhodes.
“She’s a nice filly. She’s learning,” Leparoux told publicity at Oaklawn. “Still needs to learn a little bit more, but she did very nicely today – sat off the pace, took the dirt nice. When I asked her to get into position on the backside, we ended up making a big move, a big, long move. So, that was pretty impressive for her, also. But she’s a nice filly. She’s improving every race and, hopefully, she keeps improving.”
Take Charge Milady entered the Martha Washington off a maiden special weight win at one mile in the mud at Oaklawn. The daughter of Take Charge Indy was making the fourth start of her career Saturday.
Quietside was starting her season after a 2-year-old campaign in which she second in the Spinaway and third in the Alcibiades, races won by eventual champion Immersive. Quietside stalked the pace from the inside after breaking from the rail, was unable to advance along the inside approaching the half-mile pole, and was angled out and rallied.
Take Charge Milady earned $180,000 for the win Saturday.
The next race in Oaklawn’s series for 3-year-old fillies is the Grade 3, $500,000 Honeybee on Feb. 22.
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