Will Take Charge: Derby In Sight

WILL TAKE CHARGE: DERBY IN SIGHT

BY ZEETA CASE

10 points were awarded to his name heading into the Rebel, along with only 1 stakes win. But the spark that Will Take Charge showed in his Smarty Jones victory ignited an even bigger flame as he won the 2013 Rebel Stakes (GrII). A less than flattering 6th of 10 in the Southwest Stakes, the Unbridled's Song colt was 4th heading past mid-stretch in the Rebel on a less than fast pace. 

Photo By Danny Johnston, AP

Before the final yards he had been tracking in 5th place throughout fractions of a ¼ in 23.36, ½ in 47.19, by the ¾ pole he started to make his move passing 2 horses to the inside of him. The ¾ went in 1:12.39 as Will Take Charge still progressed. Finally coming down to the finish with the concluding time of 1:45.18, the colt just got Oxbow at the wire.

25-1 was registered to him for his final odds in the race, and he showed that he was much more worthy of recognition than was brought to him. He now stands at the top of the board in regards to the derby points system; he books in with 60 points.

Pedigree will prove to be essential as to how far Will Take Charge can go. The Breeder's Cup Juvenile winner Unbridled's Song won going 9 furlongs twice in the Florida Derby (GrI) and the Wood Memorial (GrII).  Most of his races though were ranging from7-8.5 furlongs. He only raced in three 9 furlong events and won two of them, not a bad mark at the distance.
His sire Unbridled was also a nice distance horse winning at 10 furlongs twice and 9 furlongs one time. These races he won were the Kentucky Derby (GrI), Breeder’s Cup Classic (GrI), and the Florida Derby (GrI). He also had a collection of seconds going long as in the Super Derby (GrI), Preakness Stakes (GrI), and the Secretariat Stakes (GrI). The 1990 Three Year Old Champion was a good dirt horse as well.

Then we come to a dam worthy of great recognition, her name being Take Charge Lady. Winner of 8 graded stakes through her lifetime and placing in 8 graded stakes races, she was a force to be reckoned with. This mare was almost virtually unbeatable at 8.5 and 9 furlongs, and was second in many of those distanced races. Her foals include Take Charge Indy and now Will Take Charge both graded winners and now two years in a row she has had foals on the Derby Trail. She earned over $2.4 million in her lifetime and out of her 22 starts she was in the top three 81% of the time.

The dam of Take Charge Lady is Felicita not very noteworthy on the track as she never ran. However she did produce Eventail a stakes winner and graded stakes placed mare, Commendation also a stakes winner and graded stakes placed gelding, and Parris Hill a 2 time winner along with placing in the top three 70% of the time.

Trolley Song a mare out of Caro and Lucky Spell was only a one time winner in 7 starts but finished in the top three 57% of the time. Foals that she has produced include 12 foals 8 runners 4 winners and only 1 stakes winner. The stakes winner is Unbridled’s Song.

Photo By Stephen B. Thornton

The final horse I will briefly discuss out of the 2 generation line is Dehere. Dehere was a 9 time runner 6 time winner, 5 times winning in stakes including the Sanford, Hopeful, and Fountain of Youth Stakes. He was a dirt horse and won at 8.5 furlongs, the longest distance he ran. He also earned 2 Year Old Champion Colt in 1993.

From just 6 horses in the 2 generation line 4 horses were distance horses and all were dirt runners and Graded Stakes winners. All 4 of those horses ran at the distance of 8.5 furlongs and won at that distance.  High hopes from me are surrounding Will Take Charge as he is has been my Kentucky Derby pick since the Smarty Jones stakes. I wish the best of luck to him and his connections and I hope to see Will Take Charge in May. So the beautiful blaze of the chestnut colt will stick to my heart no matter what occurs. For Will Take Charge the Derby is now in sight.

Result of 2013 Rebel Stakes

Congrats to Will Take Charge (my derby pick since the Smarty Jones Stakes) and his connections!! 

1st~ Will Take Charge $58.00 $16.20 $9.80
2nd~ Oxbow                             $7.80 $5.60
3rd~ Den's Legacy                               $6.00

Santa Anita Track Feature: Let Em Shine

SANTA ANITA TRACK FEATURE: LET EM SHINE

BY ZEETA CASE

The subject of this article is involving the racehorse Let Em Shine. The colt shows lots of promise and is a 2 for 2 this year after finishing 3rd in his debut. He is a 3 year old colt out of Songandaprayer and the Johannesburg mare, Justaspell.

After leading the entire way until the finish as a 2 year old in his debut the horse has only shown promise. He has gone up in class and has been showing his talent and natural speed ever since and this time it has been giving him wins. Whereas it is only two wins at 6 furlongs I think the pedigree suggests that stretching out could not only be tactical but possible.
To judge the distance Let Em Shine may be able to go we need to consider some horses in the line. The sire is Songandaprayer as previously mentioned. We know that he was a contender in the 2001 Kentucky Derby and that he finished 13^th out of 17 horses. Before the running of the 127^th Kentucky Derby, the horse had won the Fountain Of Youth (G1) at 8.5 furlongs, and placed 2^nd in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1), contested at 9 furlongs. He had also raced 5^th in both the Florida Derby (G1) and the Holly Bull Stakes (ungraded at the time).  His record ended with a 8: 3 – 1 – 1 mark and earnings totaling $380,480. He was a distance horse and has 190 foals running and 130 winners along with 14 stakes winners including; Surplus Singer, Evelyn’s Dancer, Say A Novena, and High Emotion.
Then you have the father and son, both in which were distance horses and classic winners. They are Unbridled’s Song and champion Unbridled. Unbridled’s Song is winner of the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile (G1,8.5f), Florida Derby (G1,9f), Wood Memorial (G2,9f). Unbridled’s Song was also a winner at 7 furlongs in the ungraded Olympic Handicap as a 4 year old. Unbridled was a winner at 10 furlongs in the Breeder’s Cup Classic but also won at 7, 8.5, and 9 furlongs. Together these two, father and son, won 51 furlongs in stakes races including graded.
Johannesburg fits into the category as well. He won Breeder’s Cup Juvenile in America and won races in England, Ireland, and France and all were contested at long distances. Capote won the 8.5 furlong Breeder’s Cup Juvenile and Norfolk Stakes.
Other long distance running horses include the famous Seattle Slew, Fappiano, Caro,  Storm Cat, (a personal favorite) Ogygian, and many others down into the deeper end of the line. The mares in this line however were not as great runners as the males. As you look at what some of these mares have produced then it becomes more of an eye catcher.

What, though, has Let Em Shine shown that would lead to conclusions that he may be a force to be reckoned with? Well for one two wins in a row by at least 10 lengths combined shows that tactical speed and he can endure the distance of it. Note the times of both races. In his first win, in my opinion a more impressive race involving time. The (number) will indicate the second start he had this year the time. He went to the ¼ pole in 21.00 (21.39), the ½ in 43.23 (43.88), ⁵/₈ in 55.36 (56.24), and a finishing time of 1:08.36 (1:09.14).

So from his debut to his start now the horse has shown nothing but improvements and promise. I believe with the right course this will be a horse to watch in the future. Perhaps not a Kentucky Derby contender but a legitimate horse that can win when asked. Sprinting (6-7 furlongs) should be no problem for this colt and I hope to see him move up in class and to be another great one among the horses that the racing world has seen.

Link to his pedigree for more research on horses in his line: Let Em Shine