Racing June 14 in the $168,450 Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs, Take Charge Milady did what no filly could do last year: beat champion Immersive.
Throwing down with the reigning Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly of 2024, who made her first start in 7 1/2 months in Saturday's race, Take Charge Milady outgamed Immersive through a long stretch battle to prevail by a neck. The two separated themselves from the two other competitors, with Immersive 11 lengths clear of pacesetting Anna's Promise in third, and Princess Aliyah another three lengths back in fourth.
The winner, owned by James Ball, Magdalena Racing, and Kenneth Rhodes, raced 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.17 under Brian Hernandez Jr. following fractions of :23.32, :46.94, and 1:12.10 set by Anna's Promise. Take Charge Milady paid $10.22 for a $2 win wager as the third choice.
Take Charge Milady capitalized by catching Immersive not at peak fitness for her first start of the year. Immersive was also surrounded by rivals in a stalking position when in traffic late on the backstretch and early on the second turn. Still, the runner-up gained a path inside of front-running Anna's Promise leaving the second turn, and had every opportunity to surge past an in-the-clear Take Charge Milady.
"In a four-horse field, you have to really zero in on where everyone else will be placed in the race," Hernandez said of race tactics.
It was Immersive's first loss in five starts. The Godolphin homebred went 4-for-4 last year, capturing a maiden race and the Spinaway Stakes (G1), Alcibiades Stakes (G1), and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). She had been out of action since the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, missing the major spring races while given time off to recover from bone bruising.
Immersive's trainer Brad Cox partially attributed her trip to the nature of having a favorite in a short field, "but the only thing I was looking for is that she showed up and ran, and she did. So she'll get a tremendous amount out of this, and I look forward to giving her a shot, wherever it may lead."
Cox mentioned the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1) July 19 at Saratoga Race Course as one possibility.
Potentially joining her in Saratoga this summer could be Take Charge Milady, who ran to her potential Saturday after finishing 12th in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) on a wet track following pre-Oaks training that was impacted by a foot issue. She had won the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park and ran second to one of the division leaders, La Cara, in the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland in earlier starts this spring.
"I think you've got to think about the New York 3-year-old division up there," winning trainer Kenny McPeek said.
WATCH: McPeek on Take Charge Milady's Upset Over Immersive
Take Charge Milady is a 3-year-old dark bay or brown filly by Take Charge Indy out of the Scat Daddy mare Price too High, bred by Merriebelle Stable in Kentucky. She was a $60,000 purchase by McPeek from the Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services consignment to the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Take Charge Milady, 3-2-0 in eight starts with earnings of $538,669, is one of three stakes winners this year for Take Charge Indy, who stands at WinStar Farm for $7,500.
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