Ova Charged with jockey J. A. Guerrero aboard leads the field into the stretch and goes on to win the 2nd running of the $100,000 Bob F. Wright Memorial. (Hodges Photography/Jan Brubaker)
Fair Grounds Press Release
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Going faster than the Palmisano-winner Bron and Brow, Brittlyn Stable’s Ova Charged cruised to victory on Saturday in the $100,000 Bob F. Wright Memorial at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Trained and piloted by the current meet-leaders Shane Wilson and Jose Guerrero, the 6-year-old daughter of Star Guitar won the Wright by 6 3/4 lengths over Beleout.
“She felt amazing,” Guerrero said. “When she came out of the gate and I asked her a little bit, she went, but I said, ‘not yet.’ Last race she was coming off of the layoff, but the way she warmed up today, I knew she was 100% good to go.”
Never being menaced by any of her six foes and leading at every call, Ova Charged stopped the clock in 1:09.75, which is .80 seconds faster than the male stakes winner earlier on the card.
“We knew she was going to get tired in the (Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint),” Wilson said. “I stuck my neck out after that last one and said anybody can come and try her now that we had that race under her belt. I think we showed it today–she is the best sprinting mare in the state. We’ll get her back on the turf (next). She’s undefeated on the turf so we want to show that angle again, too.”
As the 7-5 second-favorite, Ova Charged paid $4.80, $3.20, $2.10. Beleout spiced up the payouts to the tune of $8.20, $2.80. As the public’s top preference, Free Like a Girl returned $2.10.
“When I saw 1:09 I knew she was back,” Evelyn Benoit of Brittlyn Stable said. “She needed the break. Jose Camejo had taken good care of her, but the Wilsons took over and everything has worked out perfectly. So excited for Star Guitar. Can’t tell you enough how much I love that stallion.”
Wilson reported he is considering the $100,000 Mardi Gras Stakes on Feb. 13 for Ova Charged’s next start. It would be her third try against open company.
Other than a second-place finish in the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont, a loss last summer at Keeneland, and a local defeat at the hands of statebred males last spring, Ova Charged has never lost. Undefeated facing statebred fillies, she also has an open company allowance win at Monmouth and can boast a 13-10-1-0 lifetime record with $488,780 in the bank.
