six-year-old (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
CD- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
November 18, 2023
There weren’t many horses that decided to take a shot at the Grade 3 Chilukki at CD, even with the race’s generous $300.000 purse. Just five will be heading to the starting gate for this, the nineteenth running of the race. Don’t worry, though, because it is not short on quality! Perhaps it is the proximity to the BC that keeps this race from filling up more, as the smaller fields are nothing new for the race. Last year, we had a field of six, and crossing the finish line first was Terra Command, for Threshold. The now six-year-old mare recently changed trainer hands but is still running at the graded level even though she has not been making money as of late. Let’s take a look at those that will be at CD to contest the Chilukki on Saturday!
#1- Kalthoff Repeater (Spankys Barn, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Comes into the race off of her best career start, where she won the Grade 2 Beldame at AQU last month. She had been running well heading into that too, with three straight thirds in graded races where she was within a length of the winner. In all, she’s won over $700.000 and seems like she could have been a pesky foe for those in the BC.
#2- Savanna (Spb Racing, ridden by R M Hernandez)- This trainer has done a very good job in their first year of virtual racing here, and the claim of Savanna in August for just $7.500 shows that they have a good eye for talent. Since that claim, Savanna has gone 2-for-2 in her new silks, winning an allowance at AQU before heading to PID last month for the HBPA Stakes which she also ended up winning. This is a logical next step for this three-year-old filly, a horse that has hit the board in all of her seven starts to this point.
#3- Queen Mother (Smokey Stover, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- Comes from the same barn as Savanna, but instead of claiming her for $7.500, Smokey Stover purchased her in private sales for $600.000. That was a month ago, six days after winning the Grade 2 Zenyatta, her seventh career win, and now she will make her debut for Smokey Stover. She’s been a very consistent horse through that career, and that should continue going forward in her new barn.
#4- Appreciate (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by P Lopez)- In May, Appreciate won the first of four in a row, starting modestly but then she would take it too Canadian Breds, winning the WO Oaks by four lengths and then capturing the $1,000.000 Kings Plate a month later. The streak eventually ended, but with another excellent effort as last month she placed second in the Grade 1 Spinster to Jinxed Artist. It’s too bad that she was not able to make it into the BC, because she may have had a very good shot at that one. Instead, she will look to remain hot here, and I like her chances.
#5- Karloffs Monster (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Beschizza)- Last year, she would become a BC Champion, winning the Distaff by a length. She was not always a consistent horse up to then, but there was hope that she was putting it together with that win, and the two races that followed it. After placing second in the Azeri in March, she hit a cold patch but just maybe is getting it together again, as she was third in the Grade 1 Spinster last month.
Prediction: 4-3-1-2
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
