Zipse: Classic material? Charge It dominates weak field

I have been wanting to see Charge It get another opportunity at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles for a while now. After all, he probably wasn’t quite ready last year for everything the Kentucky Derby entails.

I got my wish on Saturday and the big, beefy son of Tapit responded with a dominating run in Belmont Park’s Grade 2 Suburban Stakes under rider Johnny Velazquez.

It was the kind of visually impressive performance that makes me believe Charge It can be a Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) contender in four months. Of course, I’ve been smitten with Charge It before. One example is when he finished miles ahead of his competition in last summer’s Dwyer Stakes (G3).

It’s been a bit of a rocky road for him since that romping win, and the truth is that the well-intended 4-year-old still has everything to prove.

As good as Charge It has looked at times, his two career graded-stakes wins have a couple of troubling commonalities. Both came at the same track, and, worse yet, they each came against weak fields.

He didn’t beat much of anything in last year’s Dwyer, and the same can be said about the 2023 edition of the Suburban.

From Equipoise to Tom Fool and Nashua, and from Kelso to Dr. Fager and Forego, the historic race is littered with Hall of Fame winners. This year’s edition was historic for another reason. It was historically weak.

Still, I liked what I saw from the heavily favored Charge It. The easy winner did exactly what he was supposed to do against a field like that. He cruised.

Moving forward, I believe that if Charge It is meant to be a serious challenger in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, this was an afternoon that could prove to be a turning point in his career.

At the very least, it demonstrates that the 10-furlong trip is well within his scope, and it should give him a healthy dose of confidence.

Do not underestimate what the latter can mean for a high-level athlete. Often the difference between winning and losing on the biggest stage is belief. That certainly goes for humans, and I’ve always felt that it is true with horses, as well.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, Charge It does remind me a bit of the Breeders’ Cup Classic hero of four years ago. From the same barn, Vino Rosso had the pedigree to be a good one. He also always gave me the impression of class. But looking back at his career, he was never quite good enough to win at the absolute highest level – until he was.

Perhaps Vino Rosso’s mid-season win in the 2019 edition of the 10-furlong Gold Cup (G1) was the jumpstart he needed to become a Breeders' Cup winner.

All of that can still be possible for Charge It too. He certainly has the pedigree. And when I watch him run, I see all the potential in the world. Still only 10 races in, the door remains wide open for this horse to be remembered as more than a runner who could dominate only weak fields.

Owned and bred by the high-profile operation of Whisper Hill Farm, Charge It is one of those horses always expected to succeed. To this point in his career, it’s been a mixed bag.

He has won 4-of-10 lifetime with a pair of graded-stakes wins, but when prospects are lofty, it becomes difficult to live up to expectations.

It’s hard to read too much into his win in the Suburban. He looked very good, but shaky competition can do that for you. He has looked very good before, like in the Dwyer or last season’s Florida Derby (G1), and he has failed to build upon those performances.

Will Charge It someday become all that was intended for him?

I remain a believer, or at least hopeful, that we have not yet seen anywhere near the best from the powerful gray. The final chapter of his racing career has not yet been written, and to me he still has the look of something very good.