Will Take Charge, She's a Tiger featured on Oaks undercard

Last updated: 4/29/14 5:27 PM

Will Take Charge survived two claims of foul in last month’s Oaklawn Handicap

(Oaklawn Park/Coady Photography)

Will Take Charge, last year’s champion three-year-old colt, goes for his
second consecutive stakes win in Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000
Alysheba
at Churchill Downs, one of five stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard.

The Unbridled’s Song colt, who clinched his championship following a victory
over Game On Dude in last November’s Clark Handicap at Churchill, is using the 1
1/16-mile Alysheba as a prep for the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap on June
14.

Runner-up to Lea in the Donn Handicap and to Game On Dude in the Santa Anita
Handicap to start the season, Will Take Charge took a controversial edition of
the Oaklawn Handicap last time. The 2-5 favorite against five rivals, the
chestnut repeatedly drifted toward the rail during the stretch run. After a
review of the video, however, two foul claims against the colt were disallowed
by the Oaklawn Park stewards.

Luis Saez, who had ridden Will Take Charge since the colt’s Travers win in
August, has been replaced by Gary Stevens for the Alysheba.

Normandy Invasion, a strong second to classic winner Palace Malice in the New
Orleans Handicap last time, seeks his first career stakes win for Rick Porter’s
Fox Hill Farm. The four-year-old also finished second in the 2012 Remsen and
2013 Wood Memorial, and was a strong fourth in last year’s Kentucky Derby after
leading for multiple calls.

Several speed elements should provide an honest pace in the Alysheba.
Breaking from the rail is Moonshine Mullin, who won three straight during the
Oaklawn meet, including a stakes-quality allowance. Breaking from posts 8 and 9,
respectively, are Appealing Tale and Bradester. The former was the last-out
winner of the Santana Mile at Santa Anita, while the latter took the Mineshaft
Handicap at Fair Grounds before a poor showing in the New Orleans Handicap.

Others of note in the Alysheba line-up are 2012 Travers co-winner Golden
Ticket, whose placings over the past year include seconds in the Stephen Foster,
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and Gulfstream Park Handicap; Mylute, a recent
allowance winner at Fair Grounds who placed last season in the Louisiana Derby
and Preakness; and Golden Soul, who has been well-beaten in five starts since
finishing second to Orb in last year’s Kentucky Derby.

Champion juvenile filly She’s a Tiger commences her season in the Eight Belles

(Benoit Photos)

She’s a Tiger, the 2013 champion juvenile filly, makes her sophomore debut in
the Grade 3, $175,000
Eight Belles
over seven furlongs. Winner last season of the Del Mar Debutante and Landaluce,
the Jeff Bonde charge has not been out since her demotion from first to second
in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita in November.

The champion, who breaks outside all nine of her three-year-old filly rivals,
has a difficult task. Among those set to oppose are Fiftyshadesofgold, who took
the Debutante by eight lengths at Churchill last summer and was most recently
second to Kentucky Oaks favorite Untapable in the Fair Grounds Oaks; Jojo
Warrior, a close second in the April 12 Instant Racing at Oaklawn for Bob
Baffert; and Our Amazing Rose, who is undefeated in two starts for
Todd Pletcher.

The Grade 1, $300,000
La
Troienne attracted a field of six fillies and mares to go 1 1/16 miles. The
favorite’s role might be filled by On Fire Baby, the 2013 Apple Blossom heroine
who missed by a head in last year’s La Troienne. After going unplaced in three
straight starts, the five-year-old gray was most recently second to Close
Hatches in her Apple Blossom title defense.

Unlimited Budget, who captured the Rachel Alexandra and Fair Grounds Oaks
prior to finishing third in last season’s Kentucky Oaks, is entering the La
Troienne on a form upswing. After an inexplicable fourth against Florida-bred
allowance foes in early March, the Street Sense filly was a sharper second in
the Rampart, Gulfstream’s leading race in the older filly and mare division.

Also facing in the starter in the La Troienne are Devil’s Care, who captured
the Sabin prior to running third in the Rampart, and Magic Union, second to
Close Hatches at 32-1 in the March 15 Azeri at Oaklawn.

The Grade 3, $150,000
Twin
Spires Turf Sprint over five furlongs features a rematch between Marchman
and Positive Side, who were separated by a neck at odds of 23-1 and 33-1,
respectively, in last month’s Shakertown at Keeneland.

Marchman stole the Shakertown on the front end

(Keeneland/Coady Photography)

In a contentious field, bettors are also likely to look well upon Sum of the
Parts, a stakes winner in turf sprints over the winter at Fair Grounds and Sam
Houston; Stormofthecentury, who upset the Turf Monster Handicap at Parx last
September; Ancil, hero of the Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs in March; and
Undrafted, a local allowance winner owned by NFL star Wes Welker.

Trainers Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown each have two entries in the $150,000
Edgewood, a 1
1/16-mile grass test for sophomore fillies. Pletcher will be represented by
Resistivity, a 3 3/4-length allowance winner at Gulfstream in March, and Candy
Kitty, a multiple stakes winner at that Florida oval who also finished second in
the Herecomesthebride two back.

Brown saddles Granny Mc’s Kitten, heroine of the P.G. Johnson at Saratoga
last summer and runner-up in the allowance over the Keeneland Polytrack last
out, and Little Journey, who makes her U.S. debut after winning two of seven
starts last season at provincial courses in France.

Also likely to attract play are Istanford, the speedy Florida Oaks runner-up,
the stakes-placed A Little Bit Sassy, and Miss Machiavelli, who won the Pike
Place Dancer at Golden Gate Fields when last seen in October.

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