Belmont: Charge It in G2 Suburban; Love Reigns returns in $150K Coronation Cup

By Ryan Martin —-

Charge It passes 10-furlong test with flying colors in G2 Suburban

ELMONT, N.Y. – Whisper Hill Farm’s Kentucky homebred Charge It ran exactly how his 3-5 odds suggested he would, setting a moderate tempo down the backstretch and drawing away in the stretch under little urging to earn his second graded win in Saturday’s 137th running of the 10-furlong Grade 2, $350,000 Suburban for older horses, at Belmont Park.

Mandy Pope, owner of Whisper Hill Farm, expressed excitement in now owning a potential commercial stallion prospect.

“It’s always wonderful to win any graded race, but the Suburban here at Belmont is a good stallion-making race looking forward to his next career,” Pope said. “We’re really happy to have won and to have won so easily and not take too much out of him.”

The Suburban kicked off graded stakes action on Saturday, which also includes the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational in Race 10; the Grade 1, $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational in Race 8; and the Grade 3, $175,000 Victory Ride in Race 11. The Suburban awards the top-four finishers a free entry into the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 2 at Saratoga Race Course.

Charge It, a 4-year-old gray son of Tapit, made amends from a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 10 at Belmont. Despite having never won past 1 1/16 miles, the added ground appeared to be no deterrence for Charge It, who captured the local one-mile Grade 3 Dwyer last year by an astounding 23 lengths.

Graded-stakes placed Red Run broke on top through an opening quarter-mile in 24.49 seconds over the fast main track but Charge It, from post 4, matched strides with his foe passing the chute and established command while racing several paths wide under Hall of Famer John Velazquez. Charge It maintained his advantage through a half-mile in 48.12 as Clapton, Tonal Impact and Unbridled Bomber attempted to launch bids from the rear of the dense field.

Around the far turn, Charge It completed three-quarters in 1:11.80 with Clapton beginning to advance into second under Emisael Jaramillo and Red Run tiring toward the inside. Velazquez saw no serious threats passing the quarter-pole as he peeked behind from both directions and kept his mount to task with Clapton continuing to make up ground. Charge It’s class prevailed in the end as he crossed the wire a 4 3/4-length winner in a final time of 2:01.31.

Clapton finished another four lengths ahead of Unbridled Bomber, who beat out Red Run by a neck for third. Tonal Impact completed the order of finish.

Charge It won his 2023 debut in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claimer in February at Gulfstream before finishing second in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile in March and fifth in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap in April.

Velazquez, who rode Charge It for the first time in last year’s Dwyer, piloted the colt to his Met Mile effort, and said the biggest difference was the break.

“Last time, he broke slow and I tried to put him into the game. I was so far back and all of a sudden he took hold of the bridle and I was moving towards the leaders, but I wasn’t going to be that dumb and let him go from eighth to first,” said Velazquez, a now three-time Suburban winner. “So, I took a hold of him and I let him loose in the turn. He kind of got confused and he kind of stayed the same pace all the way around. After looking back, obviously he ran a really good race and if he had [broke better] last time and be in a better position, he would have been right there. Today, it was a different story. [He was the] speed and was close, he used some momentum and that’s the way it worked out.”

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who also notched his third Suburban conquest, said the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 5 at Saratoga is now a viable option for Charge It. The nine-furlong test is a “Win And You’re In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Santa Anita.

“We’re happy with his performance today. We’ll talk to everyone and consider the Whitney,” Pletcher said. “It was a good win for him. It proved he could stay a mile and a quarter. The spacing is pretty good if we want to consider the Whitney, which is obviously going to be a more difficult assignment, but he’s always been a horse that’s impressed us as a top-class horse. Maybe he’s starting to put it all together.”

Pletcher said there were no anxious moments during the race.

“He was in cruise control throughout,” Pletcher said. “He left him off the rail a little bit to keep him relaxed, but he was traveling so well and it was coming pretty easily to him, you don’t want to take that away.”

Jaramillo praised Clapton’s effort and said the Arindel Florida homebred gives it his all every time. The 4-year-old Brethren chestnut was third in Charge It’s allowance triumph two starts before capturing Gulfstream’s Grade 3 Ghostzapper at 21-1 odds.

“It was a good race and he’s a good horse,” Jaramillo said. “He’s adapted to every track he runs at. I’m very happy with the performance today. He’s a horse where every time he runs, he’s a longshot – and every time, he runs well. I’m really, really happy.”

Charge It returned $3.30 for a $2 win wager and banked $192,500 in victory, which brought his lifetime earnings up to $717,600 and record to 10-4-3-0.

Charge It is out of the Indian Charlie mare I’ll Take Charge, whose Grade 1-winning and producing dam Take Charge Lady was the mother of 2013 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Will Take Charge, Grade 1-winner Take Charge Indy and Charming – the dam of Grade 1-winning millionaire Omaha Beach and 2014 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Take Charge Brandi.

Live racing resumes on Sunday with a nine-race card for Closing Day of the Belmont spring/summer meet. First post is 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont Park spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Love Reigns returns in $150K Coronation Cup

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Stonestreet Stables’ dual stakes-winner Love Reigns will seek her second stakes score at Saratoga Race Course in Friday’s $150,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies.

Trained by Wesley Ward, the U S Navy Flag bay boasts a record of three wins from five starts, including a 2 1/2-length score here last summer in the 5 1/2-furlong Bolton Landing over eventual graded-stakes winner Danse Macabre.

Love Reigns finished off-the-board as the favorite in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in November at Keeneland to close out her 2-year-old campaign, but returned victorious with a rallying effort in the 5 1/2-furlong Limestone on April 14 at Keeneland with stablemate Lady Hollywood in second.

The $187,123 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale purchase has breezed back six times, including a bullet five-eighths in 1:00.80 on July 4 over the Keeneland dirt.

“She’s doing great. She’s been here at Keeneland and had several works. I’m excited to get her in,” Ward said.

Love Reigns saved ground from eighth position under returning rider Joel Rosario in the Limestone, but was in need of racing room at the top of the lane. A patient Rosario found a path in midstretch and Love Reigns surged between rivals with a sixteenth to run to nail her stablemate in the final jumps.

“She got bottled up and looked like she had nowhere to go – just checking and checking. All of a sudden, she dove down to the inside and off she went,” Ward said of the Limestone effort. “She’s had a good freshening, which is something I always like with sprinters. She shipped in well to Saratoga and has been there a couple of days now to train over the track, so all systems go.”

Rosario retains the mount from post 4.

Joel Politi’s Maryland homebred Bosserati [post 8, Tyler Gaffalione] rides a three-race win streak into her Saratoga debut.

Trained by Brittany Russell, the Holy Boss dark bay has seen her fortunes improve dramatically after being shifted to the turf at eighth asking following a nearly four-month layoff to capture a $25,000 claiming tilt on May 12 at Pimlico Race Course.

Bosserati followed that effort with an open-company allowance win on June 2 at Pimlico over next-out allowance winner Afandi before taking the Stormy Blues in familiar gate-to-wire fashion on June 18 going the Coronation Cup distance over firm Laurel Park turf.

Russell credited Politi with the form reversal that has seen Bosserati, out of the Twirling Candy mare Candy Striper, rise through the ranks to post a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure in the Stormy Blues.

“She’s his homebred and he had the mother and this was always his idea when she lost form last year,” noted Russell. “The mother had that sour-out personality so he said, ‘let’s freshen her up and try her on the grass.’ It’s been rewarding for her to be a stakes winner now because of that.”

Bosserati graduated on debut in September traveling a half-mile at Timonium and finished third two starts later in the Maryland Million Lassie in October at Laurel. She tailed off form through her next four starts and was given a break after a sixth-place finish in a $20,000 claiming tilt in January at Laurel.

Russell admitted they were fortunate to retain Bosserati on her return in May.

“Off the shelf we ran her for the tag and we probably picked her head up a bit as well doing that. We honestly risked losing her,” Russell said. “But since we freshened her up, she’s just a happier horse and the grass has helped.”

Bosserati’s main weapon is her wicked early foot that propelled her through splits of 21.55 seconds, 43.76 and 55.33 in the Stormy Blues en route to a half-length score in a final time of 1:01.44 over returning rival My Sweet Affair, who was pinched at the start. She survived claims of foul from both Feargal Lynch, aboard My Sweet Affair, for alleged interference after the break and Angel Cruz, aboard seventh-place Sweet Harmony, for a possible infraction through the turn to secure the win.

“She’s always been quick from the gate,” Russell said. “She broke her maiden at Timonium going four furlongs and that was the reason we ran her over there is because she was always pretty rapid from the gate as a 2-year-old. That’s always been her. She likes to break running and show the way.”

Russell, who captured the 2021 Tale of the Cat with the Kentucky-bred Wondrwherecraigis, said she would love to double up on Spa stakes scores.

“We’ll try and take a big swing with our little Maryland-bred and hope it works out,” Russell said. “To take a Maryland-bred up there and feel like we have a good chance – it’s cool.”

Russell has also entered L Street Lady, last-out winner of the Jersey Girl on June 11 at Belmont Park, for the main-track only.

R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables’ multiple stakes-placed My Sweet Affair [post 1, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] will look to turn the tables on Bosserati after a troubled trip last out in the Stormy Blues.

Trained by George Weaver, the Twirling Candy bay boasts a record of 4-1-1-1, including a debut maiden win in March sprinting five furlongs over the Gulfstream Park turf and a rallying third-place finish in the Limestone in April at Keeneland.

The $72,000 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase is out of the Midnight Lute mare Illicit Affair. Her second dam is Hall of Famer Silverbulletday, a five-time Grade 1-winner, who banked more than $3 million.

Rigney Racing’s Anna’s Arabesque [post 3, Florent Geroux] enters from a fourth-out graduation in an off-the-turf sprint on June 29 at Ellis Park for trainer Philip Bauer.

The Munnings bay made her first three starts on turf led by a rallying third-place finish in the 5 1/2-furlong Mamzelle in May at Churchill Downs. She followed with a more prominent effort over the same course and distance in June, but came up a neck short when collared by L J’s Emma.

The $220,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the Maclean’s Music mare Classy Music, who is a half-sister to multiple graded-stakes placed Sueno.

Reagan Jack Racing’s Unified Alliance [post 7, Javier Castellano] will make her turf debut following a runner-up effort in the six-furlong Jersey Girl.

The Unified dark bay, who also debuts for trainer Tom Morley, posted a record of 6-2-2-1 for her former conditioner John Servis. She graduated on debut in December at Parx and romped to a frontrunning 10 1/4-length score three starts later sprinting seven furlongs over the same track in April.

Bred in Kentucky by Calvin Crain and Shane Crain, Unified Alliance, out of the Speightstown mare Star Power, was purchased for $60,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

Rounding out a talented field are the stakes-placed Wildhawk [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche] for trainer Tom Albertrani; stakes-placed Violet Gibson [post 5, Jose Ortiz] for conditioner Saffie Joseph, Jr.; and the Christophe Clement-trained allowance winner Love Appeals [post 2, Manny Franco].

The Coronation Cup is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 10-race card which also features the $135,000 Wilton in Race 4. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Contact: Keith McCalmont