Kentucky Derby Profile: Charge It

From breaking his maiden in February to a runner-up position in the Florida Derby. Charge It is lightly raced and not a lot is known about this Tapit colt and that alone makes his worth thinking about. JN Campbell shares his thoughts...

Not many colts are as “lightly-raced” as this Todd Pletcher entry … 3 lifetimes … but clearly there is a fan base here that thinks this talented 3-yr-old by Tapit has what it takes to win the Kentucky Derby. I frankly do not see it … but maybe his ability will carry him through. What we do know is that this homebred of Whisper Hill Farm’s was incredibly impressive in his 2nd career race at Gulfstream Park.

The speed fig raised more than a few eyebrows, and probably even made Pletcher think more broadly about the Trail possibilities. After that breaking maiden win, the next challenge was the Florida Derby (G1). He was well-backed at the windows, and as 2nd choice, took a significant amount of money. Stretching out to a 1 1/8th after only a pair of races was going to take a major effort, but a clean trip would probably be even more important.

Hitting the gate after exiting was not a good start, but in the end, the colt was 2nd behind White Abarrio. Making up a good bit of ground in the end, he showed he could handle a tough race. Not too shabby for his 1st “graded” event …

Coming into the Derby, I know Todd Pletcher has what it takes to manage expectations, and lead this one down the right path. I just cannot see this one doing well against a cavalry charge, the packed field around the 1st turn, and the kind of late gears it is going to take to win this race. He is going to have the services of a big-time rider in Luis Saez, and of course, that counts for something. Still, this one is a pass for me …

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