BALTIMORE - Ed Moger Jr. thought Charlene’s Dream was a graded-stakes caliber filly. He just hadn’t had a chance to prove it.
A three-time listed stakes winner, Charlene’s Dream made a successful graded debut Saturday at Pimlico, making an easy lead under Umberto Rispoli and cruising to a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $150,000 Gallorette Stakes. At 8-1, Charlene’s Dream was the longest shot on the board in a field of seven and returned $18.20.
Austere, well off the pace early under Irad Ortiz Jr., rallied to get second by two lengths over Ocean Club. Three Havanas finished fourth, followed by Way to Be Marie, the 3-1 favorite, Sparkle Blue and Queen of the Mud. Dana’s Beauty and Conquest Dancer scratched.
Charlene’s Dream was making her first start off a 248-day layoff, or since she finished fifth in the Dueling Grounds Oaks last Sept. 11 at Kentucky Downs. Moger said he ran Charlene’s Dream in that 1 5/16-mile race only because he couldn’t get her into a graded event going shorter.
“I couldn’t run her anywhere, so let’s just try her there, a mile-and-five-sixteenths, we didn’t want to do it but we had no place else to go,” Moger said. “We turned her out after that because she had been in training for quite a while.”
Charlene’s Dream had won races like the Pike Place Dancer at Golden Gate Field, the Golden Gate Debutante and the Horseshoe Indianapolis Handicap, all in a forward position.
Umberto Rispoli, in his first mount at Pimlico, put Charlene’s Dream (90 Beyer Speed Figure) on the lead and she was able to grab a two-length advantage through a half-mile in 24.32 seconds and a half-mile in 49.37 and six furlongs in 1:14.92. On a “good” course that was favoring that type of style, the race was basically over.
Charlene’s Dream widened the advantage to 4 1/2 lengths in midstretch and settled for the 3 3/4-length score. Charlene’s Dream, a Texas-bred daughter of Qurbaan, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.92.
“I didn’t think she’d get it that easy, I thought there were a couple that had speed,” Moger said. “When they went by and everybody was strangling off her, I said they’re not going to catch her because she’s a good horse.”
Rispoli gave Moger the credit for the victory.
“Ed was very confident before the race, that’s why I want to give him credit for this,” Rispoli said. “He said wherever you land, where she’s happy, just go with her. She was happy on the fence and on the front end, she never gave up. The more ground there was to cover, she kept taking me to the wire.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. said the lack of pace and the speed-favoring nature of the Pimlico turf conspired against Austere.
“That was the only problem, not too much speed in the race, I feel like it’s hard to make up ground on the turf course,” Ortiz said. “My filly ran huge, that one filly got the jump on me and was hard to catch.”
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