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
Both horses ran their eyeballs out and it was a tough setback, to say the
Since July, Will Take Charge has captured the Travers, Pennsylvania Derby and
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The D. Wayne Lukas-trained son of Unbridled’s Song has come a long way since
recording three consecutive unplaced finishes in the Triple Crown.
“I thought maybe it was his best race of the year, frankly, even though the
Breeders’ Cup (Classic) was sensational,” Lukas said. “On this particular
surface going an eighth of a mile shorter I think he showed his versatility
pretty good today.
“The way the track was playing today — it wasn’t as glib and as bouncy as
it’s been before — I thought making a closing run was going to be more
difficult than when we have our normal track here with the weather and
everything.”
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
Game On Dude turned for home full of run and passed the mile mark in 1:36
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Saez was asked whether he thought Will Take Charge would catch Game On Dude
at the eighth-pole?
“No. When we came into the stretch my horse had to change his leads so that’s
what I tried to do,” the jockey said. “But when he changed (leads) he was flying
and I knew I was going to beat him.”
“Like I said to Willis (Horton), I think we were going to need every yard,”
Lukas added. “He’s gotten the idea now. He’s a classy horse and he’s gotten the
idea of getting up.
“He seems to know where the wire is. The last four strides you could see he
really…I don’t know what (the strides) measured but they were long.”
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.
“If I could do anything over, just because I’m a perfectionist and I get on
myself harder than anyone else, I might have waited a little bit more (before
going to the lead on far turn),” said Mike Smith, rider of Game On Dude. “But in
doing that he (Will Take Charge) might have got me easier.
“(Game On Dude) is not as big as (Will Take Charge) is. That horse has a big,
big stride. At some point I thought I’d want to try and put a little distance
between us, because we’ve all seen Game On Dude do that and destroy a field.
He’ll make that middle move and really put some distance between people and they
can’t ever catch him. So I thought I would try that a little bit, and afterwards
I thought, dang it, I should have waited a little more, but I don’t know if I
was going to beat him.”
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
After a well-deserved freshening, Will Take Charge returned to action with a
Bred in Kentucky by Eaton, Will Take Charge was purchased for $425,000 at the
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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.
Horton hasn’t made a decision whether to retire Will Take Charge or race him
next year.
“Naturally it makes it harder,” the owner said after the Clark. “But I made a
decision this week that next week was going to be the end of it — I can’t sleep
at night with this deal going on. I just want it over with. I (am) either going
to sell him or run him next year. I hope I could keep part of him and get to run
him next year. That’s my plan.”
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