Patience Pays Off for Strike Charmer
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Veteran trainer David Carroll’s 2014 racing season will fall a bit short of being his best, but a beaming smile that seemed to illuminate his barn on Sunday morning was proof that there are few things more effective in lifting one’s spirits than a big run by a good horse in an important race.
Carroll’s smile was courtesy of Courtlandt Farms’ Strike Charmer, who rallied from just off the pace under jockey Chris Landeros to score an easy two-length victory in Saturday’s $119,700 Cardinal Handicap (GIII) for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on Churchill Downs’ “good” Matt Winn Turf Course.
“It keeps me in business a little while more,” Carroll said with a laugh. “I’m happy for Chris; he gave her a great ride. I’m really happy for Mr. Adam, and I’m happy for me, too.”
It was the first stakes victory for the homebred daughter of Smart Strike and it came in her 10th career start. She had run a solid second to Cardinal favorite I’m Already Sexy in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf in her previous start and her stakes debut just over two months earlier.
Carroll believes the time between to the two races enabled Strike Charmer to come into the Cardinal as a fresh horse, and that was a positive factor in her breakthrough victory. He credited owner Don Adam for the suggestion to freshen Strike Charmer.
“Ideally I would have liked to run her at Keeneland, but he was right,” Carroll said. “The last few weeks she’s been training beautifully and has been telling us she was ready to go.”
The patient handling that helped Strike Charmer achieve her big moment on Saturday will continue. Carroll said there will be no attempt to find another spot for the filly even though she is in career-best form as the year winds down.
“We’ll probably just let her down now,” he said. “We’ll get her down to Fair Grounds and we might pick a couple of spots for her down there before we come back. Then it opens up again for her and we’ll ship around. She takes her course with her – she travels well, she runs well and she’s never run a bad race.”
The Cardinal triumph improved her career record to 2-2-1 in 10 races and boosted her earnings to $206,835. The win also was a tonic for Carroll, who scored his first graded stakes win his first since Acoma took Keeneland’s Grade I Spinster 2010. Carroll entered the Cardinal with 11 wins and earnings of $441,957 from 81 starters in 2014 – his lowest annual win total since he won with 11-of-91 starters in 1996. Those numbers made Strike Charmer’s Cardinal victory one to cherish.
Source: Churchill Downs Communications
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