Take Charge Star goes last to first in Franklin-Simpson
:quality(75))
Last away, Take Charge Star was first home – and much the best – in the Franklin Simpson Stakes on Monday at Kentucky Downs.
Jamie Spencer, winning his second straight seven-figure stakes on the day, following Haatem’s tally in the Mint Millions, sent Take Charge Star into the heat of battle three furlongs from the finish in the 6 1/2-furlong Franklin-Simpson, and through a combination of skill and good fortune never found a straw in his path. Take Charge Star, with a mighty burst, rocketed up the inside, passing all 11 of his opponents in the final 2 1/2 furlongs never going more than two paths off the rail.
“He wasn’t really traveling early,” Spencer said. “Once I got to the bottom of the hill, I was a long way back, but I was going to have to chance it going inside. It worked out well. I can’t complain.”
No, he cannot. Take Charge Star won the Grade 2, $1.1 million Franklin-Simpson, a race restricted to 3-year-olds, by 1 3/4 lengths, picking up a first prize of $450,000, almost four times as much as the colt had earned in his first eight starts, six in Ireland, the last two in England and France. Take Charge Star, bred in Ireland and thus ineligible for $750,000 in supplemental Kentucky-bred purse money, gave former jockey John Murtagh his first training win in America.
Murtagh could soon be back for more. Take Charge Star campaigns for an American owner, Maribeth Stanford, and while the colt does not quite stay a mile overseas, Murtagh wondered if he could get the trip on a standard American course. That question might be answered in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland.
Take Charge Star, a solid fourth last out in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, had far too much for these sophomore sprinters, kicking so hard and so quickly that he’d gone from 10th to last before coming to the eighth pole. Coasting home, Take Charge Star clocked 1:15.45 over firm going.
Two Out Hero, a 26-1 shot, finished second by a head over Alpyland, who made a strong outside run to take a brief homestretch lead before losing momentum.
Take Charge Star, by Starspangledbanner out of Freedonia, by Selkirk, went off the 2-1 favorite and paid $16.50.
“The trip suited him well,” Murtagh said. “I was a little worried early on because he was so far back, but when he gets into gear, this horse has a good turn of foot. Would he stay a mile in America? He just might.”
And we might find out in the Breeders’ Cup.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.
