Will Take Charge rallies dramatically to catch Game on Dude
in Clark
The young star defeated the classy veteran in the end. Willis Horton’s Will
Take Charge showed why he’s the best three-year-old male in the country with a
gutsy victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $550,700
Clark
Handicap, wearing down top older horse Game On Dude in the final yards at
Churchill Downs.
Both horses ran their eyeballs out and it was a tough setback, to say the
least, for the runner-up. Game On Dude led by a clear margin in deep stretch but
could not withstand the oncoming challenger, who notched his third graded stakes
victory in his last four starts.
Since July, Will Take Charge has captured the Travers, Pennsylvania Derby and
Clark, the lone setback coming by a dirty nose to Mucho Macho Man following a
wide trip in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The D. Wayne Lukas-trained son of Unbridled’s Song come a long way since
recording three consecutive unplaced finishes in the Triple Crown.
Our Double Play broke sharply from his outside post and led the way into the
first turn. Jaguar Paw was chasing him second and Game On Dude settled about two
lengths back in third after an opening quarter-mile in :23 4/5, with Will Take
Charge another couple of lengths behind in fourth and well off the rail rounding
the first turn.
Game On Dude advanced into a tracking second along the outside of the
pacesetter as the field made its way into the backstretch. Our Double Play
reeled off the next splits in :47 1/5 and 1:11, but gave way to Game On Dude
about midway on the final turn. Will Take Charge continued to travel wide down
the backstretch and was asked for run by jockey Luis Saez on the far turn, but
the chestnut colt still had plenty of work to do while several lengths back of
the leader entering the stretch drive.
Game On Dude turned for home full of run and passed the mile mark in 1:36
with a 2 1/2-length advantage before his rival responded to the urgings of his
rider. Will Take Charge accelerated rapidly into contention in the final furlong
and caught Game On Dude in the shadow of the wire, forging his way to a
remarkable head decision.
Off as the 2-1 second choice, Will Take Charge paid $6.80 to win after
completing 1 1/8 miles in 1:49 1/5 on the fast track.
Game On Dude, the 6-5 favorite in the nine-horse field, sustained his second
consecutive setback after winning six straight races, but the Bob
Baffert-trained six-year-old acquitted himself quite nicely Saturday following a
disappointing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The rest of the field was never a serious factor. Easter Gift finished two
lengths back in third and was followed under the wire by Bourbon Courage, Jaguar
Paw, Finnegans Wake, Our Double Play, Golden Ticket and Prayer for Relief.
Will Take Charge broke his maiden in his second career start last fall and
after an unplaced finish in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, he concluded his
juvenile season with a runner-up in the Springboard Mile at Remington Park. He
opened 2013 with a victory in the Smarty Jones in January but didn’t fire when
making his next start over a sloppy track in the Grade 3 Southwest, checking in
sixth.
The well-bred colt rebounded with a 28-1 upset in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes in
mid-March and then trained up to the Kentucky Derby. He launched a bid from off
the pace over the sloppy track at Churchill Downs but was stopped in midstretch
when a tiring Verrazano drifted out into his path, winding up eighth in the
first leg of the Triple Crown. Will Take Charge continued on along the trail but
was never a factor finishing seventh in the Preakness and 10th in the Belmont
Stakes.
After a well-deserved freshening, Will Take Charge returned to action with a
fast-closing second in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 27, only a length back of
Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice. He defeated that same rival, as well as
Kentucky Derby winner Orb, in the August 24 Travers, earning his first Grade 1
tally, and followed with a convincing 2 1/4-length triumph in the September 21
Pennsylvania Derby.
Bred in Kentucky by Eaton, Will Take Charge was purchased for $425,000 at the
2011 Keeneland yearling sale. He hails from the multiple Grade 1-winning mare
Take Charge Lady, a daughter of Dehere who earned more than $2.4 million. The
14-year-old has proven to be a rousing success as a broodmare as well.
Will Take Charge is a half-brother to Grade 1-winning millionaire Take Charge
Indy, hero of last year’s Florida Derby and the Grade 2 Alysheba earlier this
season. Take Charge Lady is also responsible for an unnamed yearling filly by
Indian Charlie who sold for $2.2 million at this year’s Keeneland September sale
and a 2013 filly by War Chant.
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