WTC Gives PA Derby Prestige A Boost
Nov 6, 2013 10:14:33 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Nov 6, 2013 10:14:33 GMT -5
PA has had a good year with Princess and WTC!
Will Take Charge gives Pennsylvania Derby's prestige a boost
By Dick Jerardi
DRF
When Parx Racing management moved the Pennsylvania Derby from Labor Day to the third Saturday in September, they really had three goals. One was to attract the Travers winner. Second, they wanted to give stakes-caliber 3-year-olds a last chance to run against their own age. Third, they wanted their race to be six weeks from the Breeders’ Cup so it could act as a final prep.
Well, they hit the trifecta this year and nearly got the Pennsylvania Derby winner home in the Classic.
Will Take Charge won the Travers and came to Parx. He won the Pennsylvania Derby. He waited six weeks for the Breeders’ Cup and nearly won the Classic, falling a nose short of catching Mucho Macho Man.
Now, as an added bonus, the Pennsylvania Derby winner is almost certainly going to be voted 3-year-old champion. That could help bump the $1 million race from a Grade 2 to a Grade 1. Will Take Charge’s Classic run is certainly great advertisement.
After the colt was beaten up so badly in the Triple Crown races, trainer D. Wayne Lukas did not get discouraged. Does he ever?
Will Take Charge has a fascinating, if unorthodox, résumé. He won the Smarty Jones, Rebel, Travers, and Pennsylvania Derby. He was second in the Jim Dandy and Classic. In the three Triple Crown races and the Southwest, he was beaten by a combined 63 1/4 lengths.
Bottom line, the colt got really good in the summer, stayed good, and then got better.
“He’s really developed into a beautiful horse,” Lukas said.
Will Take Charge nearly did a Travers again in the Classic. It looked hopeless and then . . .
“I realize the ups and downs of it better than probably most, but those are hard to take,” Lukas said. “This is the ultimate. Other than the Derby, this is the one you want.”
Close Hatches won the Cotillion at Parx just before the Pennsylvania Derby. That she ran a solid second to the brilliant Beholder in the BC Distaff also has to solidify the day with a pair of $1 million races that Parx began in 2012.
Will Take Charge gives Pennsylvania Derby's prestige a boost
By Dick Jerardi
DRF
When Parx Racing management moved the Pennsylvania Derby from Labor Day to the third Saturday in September, they really had three goals. One was to attract the Travers winner. Second, they wanted to give stakes-caliber 3-year-olds a last chance to run against their own age. Third, they wanted their race to be six weeks from the Breeders’ Cup so it could act as a final prep.
Well, they hit the trifecta this year and nearly got the Pennsylvania Derby winner home in the Classic.
Will Take Charge won the Travers and came to Parx. He won the Pennsylvania Derby. He waited six weeks for the Breeders’ Cup and nearly won the Classic, falling a nose short of catching Mucho Macho Man.
Now, as an added bonus, the Pennsylvania Derby winner is almost certainly going to be voted 3-year-old champion. That could help bump the $1 million race from a Grade 2 to a Grade 1. Will Take Charge’s Classic run is certainly great advertisement.
After the colt was beaten up so badly in the Triple Crown races, trainer D. Wayne Lukas did not get discouraged. Does he ever?
Will Take Charge has a fascinating, if unorthodox, résumé. He won the Smarty Jones, Rebel, Travers, and Pennsylvania Derby. He was second in the Jim Dandy and Classic. In the three Triple Crown races and the Southwest, he was beaten by a combined 63 1/4 lengths.
Bottom line, the colt got really good in the summer, stayed good, and then got better.
“He’s really developed into a beautiful horse,” Lukas said.
Will Take Charge nearly did a Travers again in the Classic. It looked hopeless and then . . .
“I realize the ups and downs of it better than probably most, but those are hard to take,” Lukas said. “This is the ultimate. Other than the Derby, this is the one you want.”
Close Hatches won the Cotillion at Parx just before the Pennsylvania Derby. That she ran a solid second to the brilliant Beholder in the BC Distaff also has to solidify the day with a pair of $1 million races that Parx began in 2012.