Sistercharlie Supercharged in G1 Beverly D.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL – Peter Brant’s Irish-bred filly Sistercharlie continued her American dominance on Saturday after a resounding rally in the stretch carried her to victory in the Grade 1, $600,000 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park.

The Beverly D. is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event, with Sistercharlie receiving an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Churchill Downs on Saturday, November 3.

Breaking without incident from post 3 as the 8/5 favorite, Sistercharlie made her usual early move to the rear of the field and allowed her Chad Brown stablemates Thais and Inflexibility to post early splits of :24.53, :50.53, 1:15.29, and 1:39.84 for the opening mile. Making the turn for home, the entire field seemed to gang up behind the pace-setters. A mad scramble down the stretch ensued, and in the final 1/16 of a mile, two new Brown trainees emerged from the pack to take command. In the final yards, Sistercharlie held off Fourstar Crook to win by a 1/2-length advantage in a final time of 1:56.77 for the 1 3/16-mile turf event.

“It was a perfect trip,” Velazquez said. “We broke a little slow, like always. As soon as we went past the wire, I looked for the position I wanted and I got it. Then I sat there and I saw Ryan Moore (aboard Athena) move on the outside into the backstretch and kind of pushed him out and he came in, and I kind of followed him from there. From the 1/2-mile pole, there was just one horse to beat, so I put her right behind that one, and when I asked her, she responded really well.”

Thais was able to hold onto third by a neck over Daddys Lil Darling, giving Brown the trifecta, while Inflexibility was another nose behind. Nyaleti was only 3/4 of a length behind, while it was another 1/2-length back to Athena. The pair of Oh So Terrible and Dona Bruja failed to threaten and finished eighth and ninth, respectively, to complete the order of finish.

Sistercharlie’s win was her third in four starts this year, with her lone loss coming by a neck to Fourstar Crook in the Grade 2 New York Stakes two races ago. The Irish-bred 4-year-old daughter of Myboycharlie has a worldwide record of 10-6-3-0 with earnings of $1,475,603. Her effort gave Brown his fourth straight (fifth overall) score in the Beverly D.

“It’s very rewarding for my staff and my owners and my mentor, I’m thinking about him right now, Bobby Frankel,” Brown said. “He loved this race. He loved coming to Arlington, a big supporter. He taught me so much, and to be able to come back and use his training techniques, everything he taught me, to come here and have success in this race is really special.”

Sistercharlie returned $5.20 to win, $2.80 to place, and $2.40 to show. Fourstar Crook brought back $4.80 to place and $3.40 to show, while Thais paid $10.20 to show.