The son of A.P. Indy and Take Charge Lady, Take Charge Indy, winning the Florida Derby. (Coglianese Photo)
By Michaela Moricova
I started watching horse racing in 2009. I was thirteen, and in a span of a few years, I managed to get a grip on the sport to a decent extent; however, I couldn’t be prepared to witness what I still see as unique to this day. Although Take Charge Indy failed in the Kentucky Derby, he remained one of my favorite horses throughout his career; moreover, I became fond of Will Take Charge. Of course, I knew they were out of the same mare, and the fact itself made me a fan of Take Charge Lady, too.
It isn’t that unusual for a mare to give several good horses as we saw e.g. with the mother of Hukum and Baaeed. Some give two outstandingly great runners but Take Charge Lady foaled “Indy” and “Will” in two subsequent years. And that wasn’t it as full seven years later, she gave birth to another G1 winning horse, As Time Goes By.
Although I currently can think of other amazing mothers, namely Kind, the dam of Frankel, Noble Mission, and Bullet Train, Take Charge Lady grasped my heart also thanks to her daughters, capable of producing smart horses as their mother did. But that’s a story for the follow-up article.
Brilliant on the Track and… then What?
The daughter of Dehere spent her racing days at Kenneth McPeek’s, for whom Take Charge Lady scored three G1 wins. As a two-year-old, she triumphed in the G2 Alcibiades Stakes, while in 2002, she recorded ten starts and six victories. Besides winning the G1 Ashland Stakes and Spinster Stakes, she also finished second in the Kentucky Oaks. Before retiring in 2023, Take Charge Lady became a back-to-back winner of the Spinster Stakes.
As the title of this part suggests, Take Charge Lady didn’t have the best beginning as a mother because her first couple of foals weren’t anything special. We had to wait until 2011 when Take Charge Indy showed up among promising two-year-olds as the son of AP Indy placed at the highest level. The handsome dark colt most notably finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and upon commencing a new season in an Allowance, he let the name Take Charge Lady shine bright once again.
From the US to Southern Korea and Back
Trained by Patrick Byrne, Take Charge Indy won the Florida Derby 2012. He did so in fine style under Calvin Borell; however, he failed to repeat the performance in the Kentucky Derby as he sustained an injury. He returned to the track in the fall by placing at the group level, in which he continued in the following season. Take Charge Indy didn’t achieve another G1 victory, but his effort in the Alysheba Stakes rewarded him with a G2 success. Who knows, he might have added another big one hadn’t he suffered a fracture that meant the end of his racing career.
Like his mother, though, “Indy’s” beginning at the stud was rough. His first foals weren’t that impressive, so when WinStar received an offer from Southern Korea, they let him go. Take Charge Indy spent three years there, being in high demand, but in the meantime, his offspring made names for themselves in the US. To name a few, Long Range Toddy won the G2 Rebel Stakes, Take Charge Paula the G3 Forward Gal Stakes, Everfast placed second in the G1 Preakness Stakes, and Noble Indy delivered in the G2 Louisiana Derby.
Since 2020, “Indy” has been standing again in the US.
Will Take Charge Surely Did
A year after “Indy,” “Will” hit the ground, and even though it took him some time before he reached certain stardom, he always looked talented. He confirmed to be a decent horse for Wayne Lukas by winning the G2 Rebel Stakes in 2013, yet he didn’t show anything interesting in all three parts of the Triple Crown. He returned to form in the summer, though. Placing second in the G2 Jim Dandy Stakes was already great, upon which Will Take Charge recorded his premiere G1 triumph in the Travers Stakes. In the end, 2013 proved to be an outstanding season for him.
The Kentucky Derby, etc., just came too early for him as following his success in the Travers, “Will” went on to bag the G2 Pennsylvania Derby and the G1 Clark Handicap. Moreover, he finished second in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic behind legendary Mucho Macho Man. The season of 2014 meant another G2 victory for the chestnut as he won the Oaklawn Handicap, to which he added fourth placings among the elite.
Although I utterly loved Will Take Charge’s attitude on the track and looked forward to all of his outings, I didn’t expect much of him as a stallion. The son of Unbridled’s Song entered the stud in 2015 as Three Chimneys Farm, then relocated to Uruguay, and in 2022, he returned to the US after siring Esidio, a champion older horse and stayer in Peru.
As Time Went By…
To conclude my fangirling over Take Charge Lady, let’s look at her final offspring, a bay mare sired by American Pharoah. Trained by Bob Baffert, As Time Goes By really needed some time to bloom. As a three-year-old, she ran three times in maidens, but upon winning an Allowance in 2021, she was pointed towards the G1 Beholder Mile Stakes. She didn’t hesitate to show what’s in her as the filly finished a brilliant second before scoring the G2 Santa Margarita Stakes.
By then, it was pretty apparent that Take Charge Lady did it again and delivered a super-talented horse, which As Time Goes By kept affirming throughout her career. In 2021, she added another G2 win to her resume, and even though she then recorded some weaker performances, she concluded her racing days with a bang. In May 2022, she attempted the G1 Beholder Mile Stakes for the second and succeeded.
In the second part of this mini-series, I’ll look into her career as a granddam. Although Take Charge Lady’s career as a broodmare is over, her legacy continues to grow – In recent years, not only As Time Goes By reminded the accoladed mare but also her grandson Omaha Beach, the Arkansas Derby winner.
