Take Charge Brandi seeks championship with Starlet win
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Overcoming a poor three race streak, Take Charge Brandi rose to the top of the juvenile filly division
with two front-running scores, the first in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Fillies and the second in the G3 Delta Downs Princess. Thanks to those three
off the board finishes in graded company and the fact that Lady Eli is undefeated and has a Breeders’ Cup win to her name, as
well, means that if Take Charge Brandi wants to take home some hardware, she
needs to pad her résumé a bit. She has the opportunity to do so this weekend in
the Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos
Race Course.
A short field of six rivals have assembled to challenge Take
Charge Brandi in the Starlet. Of the six, only Achiever’s Legacy is a stakes winner, although Don’t Blame Me,
Danette, Feathered, Majestic Presence and Maybellene can all claim black type
by virtue of graded stakes or stakes placings.
Achiever’s Legacy—Found
the winner’s circle for just the second time in her career when capturing the
listed Desi Arnaz Stakes over Del Mar’s all weather track. Her lone dirt start
resulted in a close 3rd place finish at Santa Anita.
Don’t Blame Me—Has
tried every surface, and while she earned black type in the G3 Jimmy Durante
Stakes over the turf at Del Mar, her best career races have been on the dirt.
She has the advantage of having two races over the Los Alamitos track,
something no one else in the field can claim.
Danette—Brought to
you by the dynamic Desormeaux duo, this daughter of Curlin is still a maiden.
Her first four starts came on the all weather surface, but her last two races,
both on dirt, are the ones to really look at. In the G1 Chandelier, she
finished 3rd, beaten by only 5 lengths. In her last start, the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, she finished 5th, beaten only 1 ½ lengths.
If she continues to put things together, Danette could be dangerous.
Feathered—Fourth in
the BC Juvenile Fillies, Feathered has never run a bad race. Her worst finish
was in the BC Juvenile Fillies, and she was still only beaten by a mere length.
Her highest speed figure is second only to Brandi’s, and she is trained by Todd
Pletcher and will be ridden by Mike Smith. All in all, she has the potential to
run a huge race and upset the favorite.
Majestic Presence—Has
lost to Take Charge Brandi in her last two starts, and I don’t see the roles
being reversed here. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is never one to discount, but
Majestic Presence would need to majorly improve in order to find the winner’s
circle Saturday.
Take Charge Brandi—Is
the class of the field and her record speaks for itself. Though she’s had a few
bad races, her last two have been exceptional. In the BCJF, she showed that she
can run a :45.80 half and still have enough in the tank to win. Her final time
in the Princess was nothing to write home about, but she did just what she had
to do to win, no less and no more. If she runs to her current form, she will be
hard to run down in the stretch.
Maybellene—A daughter
of Lookin At Lucky, Maybellene is trained by Bob Baffert and owned by his wife
Natalie Baffert. Racing over both dirt and synthetics, Maybellene is a bit hard
to figure out. Her finishes have been all over the board, with good and bad
efforts on both surfaces. Her best efforts, however, have been with jockey
Rafael Bejarano aboard, and he retains the mount for Saturday. Bejarano seems
to know the filly best and will likely put her in a position to make an impact.
The Starlet field may be short and not as accomplished as
Take Charge Brandi, but this will be no cakewalk for the filly either. There
are plenty of fillies in here that could spring the upset if Brandi becomes
complacent or doesn’t bring her “A” game. Feathered and Danette appear to be
the two most likely to beat Brandi to the wire. A win for Take Charge Brandi
would lend more strength to the filly’s case for year-end honors, but it will
ultimately be up to the Eclipse voters on whether or not her recent successes
are enough to counter her past shortcomings.
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