Chelsea Durand Photo

Royal Charlotte gets up late in G2 Prioress

by Najja Thompson

With a perfectly timed ride by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, First Row Partners and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Royal Charlotte rallied late to upset 3-5 favorite Break Even with a 1 ½-length win the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress for sophomore fillies on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

Sent off at odds of 9-2 from post 5, Royal Charlotte stalked from fourth position as Break Even rushed to the front of the five-horse field, setting blistering fractions of 21.87 seconds for the opening quarter-mile with the half going in 44.76 over a fast main track.

Heading into quarter-pole, Royal Charlotte was shifted to the two-path, passing Break Curfew and leaving Break Even in her sights at the top of the lane. With Castellano putting her under a drive, she met the leader at the sixteenth-pole and extended away in the late stretch, completing six furlongs in 1:09.45 for her fifth win in six career starts.

The victory was the 10th stakes win of the meet for Castellano and 13th for meet-leading trainer Chad Brown, which is tops for both a rider and a conditioner for the meet that will conclude on Monday.

"I like the way she did it today," Castellano said. "The pace was hot and I had Break Even [No. 3] as a target every single step of the way. I tipped her outside and she finished strong. The way the race developed was great. It was a small field and they all grouped up together and we sat behind them and it paid off today."

Making her first start since finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Test on August 3, Royal Charlotte returned $11 on a $2 win wager. Bred by Rhineshire Farm, the Cairo Prince filly boosted her bankroll to $269,400. She also gave Brown his ninth graded stakes win of the meet.

"She didn't do any running in the Test but she wasn't handling the track that day," said Brown. "I just had noticed that the past couple of weeks the track has changed in the morning, and I think it might just be the climate. But for whatever reason, the track has been playing differently in the morning and I didn't have anywhere else to run her. I was just going to point her to Keeneland and freshen her. She had a couple of easy breezes and went fine, but I saw a completely different track, so we took a shot. She looks like she's a much different horse going six or six and a half [furlongs], and Javier really rode a patient race and the pace helped us."

Looking ahead, Brown said he might target the Grade 2, $250,000 Raven Run on October 19 at Keeneland for her next start.

"I was thinking about the Raven Run [on October 19 at Keeneland] even though I said she's better going six or six and a half [furlongs] but I had that race in mind because her race at Keeneland was also really good. It's probably the logical move."

Following Break Even in second were Risky Mandate, Break Curfew and Kept True. South of France was scratched.