By Alan Carasso
Chatalas (Gun Runner), all-the-way winner of last year's GII Chandelier Stakes prior to a down-the-field finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies while under the care of Mark Glatt, was sent to trainer Grant Forster this term with an eye on the age-restricted dirt stakes east of the Mississippi. The plan was off to an auspicious beginning Saturday when the bay, having her first start of 2024, fought back tenaciously at the fence to take Saturday's GIII Indiana Oaks.
Sent straight into the lead from the inside post by Antonio Fresu, Chatalas set a comfortable pace through the opening stages, getting the quarter in :23.72 and the first four furlongs in :47.48. Little Jamie (Collected) was content to track from a close-up second, while heavily favored 'TDN Rising Star' Impel (Quality Road) was allowed to settle a few lengths off the leaders. Little Jamie began to pour on the pressure at the quarter pole, drawing alongside the front-runner as Impel came under a Florent Geroux ride while making little impression on the top two. Neither did it look particularly promising for Chatalas, who surrendered the lead to Little Jamie just outside the eighth pole, but just when it looked like a lost cause, Chatalas came back on her rival for a hard-fought success. Impel looked destined to finish off the board, but found late energy to win a photo for third.
“When she made the lead, I felt really good,” said Forster, winning first graded stakes since Pirate's Punch (Shanghai Bobby) won the 2020 GIII Salvator Mile Stakes. “She's got a lovely long stride. When she got into that stride down the backside, it looked like she was just cruising. Turning for home, it looked like she lost the lead there for a little bit, but she showed some real fight. I don't think there could have been a better race for her off the bench.”
A debut winner sprinting over the Del Mar main track last July 30, Chatalas was a well-beaten fourth to 'Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro–Beholder) in the GI Del Mar Debutante Stakes prior to her wire-to-wire win in the Chandelier. A distant ninth in the Juvenile Fillies after being bothered significantly at the break, Chatalas was fourth–placed third–in the GII Starlet Stakes Dec. 9 ahead of neck defeat in the grassy Blue Norther Stakes Dec. 29.
Pedigree Notes:
Fleetwood Bloodstock paid $130,000 for dam Indian Safari in foal to Union Rags at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale, and Chatalas is the most recent of the mare's five winners from six to face the starter. The current 2-year-old from the mare, the filly Yellow (Bernardini) who cost Repole Stable $230,000 at Keeneland September, was runner-up on debut at Aqueduct July 4, while her more recent produce include a yearling filly by Liam's Map and a colt foal by that Lane's End stallion.
Saturday, Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANA OAKS-GIII, $200,000, Horseshoe Indianapolis, 7-6, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:42.93, ft.
1–CHATALAS, 121, f, 3, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Indian Safari, by Indian Charlie
2nd Dam: Hopes and Dreams, by More Than Ready
3rd Dam: Nokia, by Theatrical (Ire)
O-Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners, Dan J. Agnew,
and William Chatalas; B-Dan Agnew (KY); T-Grant T. Forster;
J-Antonio Fresu. $118,800. Lifetime Record: 7-3-1-1,
$370,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Little Jamie, 115, f, 3, Collected–Sudden Heat, by
Congrats. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
O/B-J and J Stables (Williams, Jr.) (KY); T-Robert Medina.
$39,600.
3–Impel, 121, f, 3, Quality Road–Your Love, by Flatter.
O/B-Juddmonte (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. 'TDN Rising Star'
$21,780.
Margins: HD, HF, HF. Odds: 10.90, 9.50, 0.30.
Also Ran: Band of Gold, Neon Icon, Dancing Princess. Scratched: Charlene's Dream, Just Be Quiet.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs.
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