My Charmer Handicap (Grade 3)- $100.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Inner Turf
December 15, 2018
On Saturday, the My Charmer Handicap, a smaller grade 3 for older females, will take place at GP. It is the fifteenth time that the stake will be run, but really only the second time that it will be contested with its current conditions. The stake was contested 13 times at CRC, and with one exception, was run at nine furlongs. With the move to GP last year, the distance was also shrunk to its present level. The purse has remained constant, and for this race, there will be five head to the gate. While the race is a handicap, weight should be a non-issue, since everyone carries 119 or 120 pounds. Let’s meet the field.
#1- Quakerce (Fractious, ridden by C Landeros)- Makes her debut for Fractious in this race after being claimed from Sir Daniel Martin for $25.000 last month. After winning the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf last season, Quakerce has not made a great impact in 2018, with her three wins only coming in overnights. She has failed to hit the board in all five of her graded attempts this year, but maybe a change of scenery will get her going again. While the talent is there, she is a little tough to pick in a race like this. Wouldn’t surprise me if she won, though.
#2- Lucifers Wings (Paradise Stable, ridden by Jef Sanchez)- Does not come into this race on great form, as her last three races have been at, or close to, the rear of the field. Prior to that, she won the Grade 3 Chicago Handicap at AP, so a return to that is what the trainer is hoping for. She has not exactly tried stronger competition since then, but it is noteworthy to point some of the high weights she carried in those three races, including 130 pounds. If her struggles were weight related, then the Chicago Handicap is far more relevant to look at it here.
#3- T S Dancer (Triple K, ridden by R J Albarado)- Comes into this race off a four month layoff, but prior to that, things seemed to be going fairly well. She’s won two of five this year, including the $125.000 Sanibel Island right here at the end of the March. A little later, she just missed a check in the Grade 1 BEL Oaks, placing fifth. That was followed up with a solid second place run at the Grade 3 Pucker Up in August, but since then we haven’t seen her. Works are fine, but will she need a race to rediscover that form?
#4- Sandset (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by J R Leparoux)- The Cherokee Sunset filly has raced ten times this year, but has only found the winners circle once, coming in early May at CD in the Grade 3 Edgewood. After that result, the trainer increased her level of competition, and she has been seen in the Grade 1 BEL Oaks, and Grade 1 Beverly D, and was fourth in the latter. Her results in those races are ok, but does not have the one big result to be the highlight of them. She drops a little here, and should be able to beat this field on talent, but picking a 2-for-16 horse on top, despite competition level faced in many, can be a tough proposition.
#5- Twinny (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by G Franco)- Acquired by the trainer in the September 2018 auction for $77.000, Twinny has two races for Maxmillion this thus far. The first was a win in a decent size claimer, and three weeks ago she followed that up by running third in the $150.000 Forever Together. Over her career, she has won five of eleven, and seems to be on the upswing. In a race where the other four seem to have that one thing that concerns me a little, Twinny seems to be coming in here without any real reason for concern. She has earned the right to try a graded stake, she knows how to win and be near the front even when she doesn’t, and the trainer is great on the grass. She’ll be my pick.
Prediction: 5-4-2-3
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
