Take Charge Indy Fit and Ready for Comeback

The big year trainer Pat Byrne envisioned for Take Charge Indy came to a crashing halt on Kentucky Derby (G1) day when the regally bred colt exited the race with a left ankle injury.

Come Saturday, phase two starts for Take Charge Indy as he will face older horses for the first time in the Fayette (G2) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

“He came back to the barn August 2,” Byrne said Wednesday morning from Louisville. “He’s had three three-quarter-mile works and has a lot of miles under him. (Jockey) Calvin (Borel) worked him three works back and he went 1:13 and 1 and Calvin said he’s ready.”

Owned by Chuck and Maribeth Sandford, the son of A.P. Indy out of four-time Keeneland graded stakes winner Take Charge Lady burst onto the Triple Crown scene with a victory in the Florida Derby (G1) in which he defeated eventual Belmont (G1) winner Union Rags. Then came the disappointment of the Kentucky Derby.

“This is a good place to get started back and I can do it without shipping all over the country,” Byrne said. “He has run OK on Polytrack and he did not get beat that far last year by Dullahan (in the Grade 1 Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity). I had considered the Barbaro (last Saturday) at Delaware Park.

“He’s ready to go. Ideally, I’d like a mile and a sixteenth, but there are not too many places to go. The Clark Handicap (G1 on November 23 at Churchill Downs) is the main objective and I’ve got the Dubai World Cup (G1) in the back of my mind.”