Kentucky Derby Maiden Watch: Charge It impresses at Gulfstream
Charge It breaking his maiden at Gulfstream Park (Photo by Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos)
February 14th, 2022
The Kentucky Derby (G1) is drawing closer with every passing day, but impressive sophomore maiden winners continue to emerge on the scene. Even at this late juncture, they’re throwing their names into the ring as potential Derby candidates.
Let’s review three of the best maiden winners from last weekend’s busy racing slate.
Charge It
If there’s been a more impressive three-year-old maiden winner this year than second-time starter Charge It, it’s hard to think who it would be. The son of Tapit ran out of his skin in a one-mile maiden special weight on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, carving out splits of :24.24, :47.47, and 1:11.45 before pulling clear under a hand ride to win by 8 1/2 lengths.
He was full of run down the homestretch, sprinting the final two furlongs in :11.80 and :12.30 for a snappy final time of 1:35.55.
Charge It's second dam is multiple Grade 1 winner Take Charge Lady, whose descendants include champions Will Take Charge and Take Charge Brandi plus Grade 1 winners Take Charge Indy and Omaha Beach. This is a beautiful pedigree, so Charge It looks like a star in the making for two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher.
Macallan
After losing his debut sprinting at Tampa Bay Downs by a nose, Macallan relished stretching out over one mile and 40 yards on Saturday. Favored at 11-10 to win a maiden special weight at Tampa Bay Downs, Macallan saved ground behind fractions of :23.87, :47.50, and 1:12.25, then shifted outside and rallied nicely to beat his rivals by 3 3/4 lengths in 1:39.58.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Macallan is a son of Quality Road out of a mare by Giant’s Causeway, so running long is bound to be his strong suit. A foray on the Road to the Kentucky Derby could certainly be in Macallan’s future.
Money Supply
Chad Brown’s Money Supply wasn’t in any hurry to get going in his Saturday debut sprinting six furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs. After getting bumped at the start, Money Supply dropped back to eighth place through an opening quarter mile in :22.07, trailing the leader by 11 lengths.
But Money Supply gained ground steadily around the far turn and down the homestretch, rallying between and inside rivals to forge clear and score by two lengths in 1:09.71.
The son of Practical Joke clearly has talent, but his pedigree is arguably geared toward sprints and miles, so we’ll have to wait to see if Money Supply pursues the spring classics.
