Churchill Downs: She Can’t Sing inherits lead, wins Chilukki

Louisville, Ky.

Call it plan B. That is what jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. did after he took 5-year-old She Can’t Sing (7-2) to an early lead that was never relinquished Saturday evening in winning the Grade 3, $300,000 Chilukki Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths at frigid Churchill Downs.

“I figured we were going pretty slow,” he said. “My filly just traveled well the whole way. She got to the three-quarter pole on her own terms, and when she switched leads, she sprinted home.”

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All that was another way of saying the projected pace for the one-turn mile for fillies and mares completely fell apart. It started when Grade 3 winner Center Aisle, expected to be the early speed, was among the scratches announced Saturday morning.

Stakes winners Coach (7-5) and Mariah’s Princess (2-1), breaking from posts 1 and 2, were expected to inherit the early lead. Instead, they were at the back of the pack all the way to the turn.

Winning trainer Chris Block said the exit of Center Aisle did not impact what he planned for She Can’t Sing. The absence of Coach and Mariah’s Princess from the early pace picture could have been a whole nuther matter. But Block said it was not.

“I was going to stalk and then just make a move off the turn and see what we could do.” he said. “(Being in the lead) was OK. That was a little surprising, but I knew that she was in hand doing it.”

“It looked like the ‘1’ and the ‘2’ horse, they looked like they had a little speed,” Hernandez said. “Knowing our filly, we were just going to track them. But when we left the gate, I looked over and (Empire House) was in front, I figured we were going pretty slow.”

It was slower than the Bernardini mare went when she trailed fractions of 21.55, 44.73 and 1:14.57 on her way to finishing third in the Ladies Sprint (G3) last out Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs. But that was on turf, where She Can’t Sing made her last eight starts after she faded to a sixth-place finish in last year’s Chilukki.

This time she went out in 22.82 seconds with a stiff tailwind to lead the first quarter-mile on the fast main track. Empire House (26-1), the longest shot on the board who eventually would fade to fifth in the six-horse field, got her head in front at the half-mile pole with a time of 45.50 seconds.

She Can’t Sing would take the two path into the stretch and into the lead, opening a 1 1/2-length advantage with a three-quarter-mile fraction of 1:10.12. She was not threatened after that, running on to a winning time of 1:35.38.

It was the first time the Bob Lothenbach homebred had led at the first call since she tired and finished last in the seven-furlong Chicago (G3) last year on the all-weather track at Arlington. That was 12 races ago.

“Brian did great,” Block said. “She just sat there and inherited the lead. I knew around the far turn, when she’s that much in hand, when he’s got that much horse, it’s going to be tough to run her down.”

Two stalkers, Ice Orchid (8-1) and Liberty M D (5-1), finished second and third in that order, 2 1/4 lengths apart. Coach, who has been a beaten favorite three times in a row, closed to finish fourth, 11 1/4 lengths behind the winner.

She Can’t Sing paid $9.04, $5.42 and $4.18; Ice Orchid $7.28 and $4.02; and Liberty M D $4.02. After Coach and Empire House, Mariah’s Princess came home last.

The victory lifted She Can’t Sing to 9: 4-1-1 this year with nothing but turf starts until Saturday. With four wins and two seconds in 11 races at Churchill Downs, her lifetime record rose to 33: 8-6-5 and her earnings to $816,588.

“She likes this track,” Block said. “I wanted this race last year, and things didn’t work out.”

Block said She Can’t Sing will race as a 6-year-old, but he did not have a target race in mind for early 2023.

“She’ll go to Fair Grounds for the winter,” he said. “We’ll probably freshen her up a little bit and get her ready for her campaign for next year.”