Charlie’s to Blame gritty in the Kitten’s Joy (Coglianese)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — BG Stables, Roadrunner Racing, SAF Racing and West Coast Stables LLC’s Charlie’s to Blame made the most of a cross-country ship Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the Southern California-based colt scored a gutsy front-running victory in the $165,000 Kitten’s Joy.
The son of Blame, who had graduated in his third career start last time out at Del Mar, took control of the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds right out of the starting gate. The Peter Eurton trainee showed the way past fractions of 23.26 and 47.61 (seconds) for the first half-mile while being closely attended by Walking in Memphis. After rebuffing a strong challenge by Walking in Memphis on the far turn, Charlie’s to Blame, the 3-1 second choice in a field of seven, maintained his lead into the stretch, where he opened a two-length lead in mid-stretch under Luis Saez.
Maui Strong, who was always in striking distance while stalking the pace two-wide in third, would make it interesting in the closing yards, however. The Dale Romans-trained son of Kitten’s Joy who had overcome trouble to finish third in the Dania Beach last time out, surged late but fell a head short of catching the game Charlie’s to Blame. Test Score, the 9-5 favorite, closed mildly to finish third, two lengths farther back.
Charlie’s to Blame, who ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.48, finished fourth on dirt at 5 1/2-furlongs in his Sept. 4 debut at Del Mar. He demonstrated a fondness for turf at Santa Anita Oct. 13 while finishing second, beaten by just a half-length, before encouraging his owners to ship east for the Kitten’s Joy with a front-running 3 1/2-length romp at Del Mar Dec. 1.
