Ova Charged holds on in Unbridled Sidney

Brittlyn Stable’s star mare Ova Charged broke a shade tardy in Friday’s $332,000 Unbridled Sidney S. (G3) at Churchill Downs but was still able to gain a slight lead soon after the start and gamely repelled all comers in the end. With Florent Geroux in the irons, the Shane Wilson-conditioned six-year-old mare blitzed through fractions of :21.91, :45.30 and :57.37 before holding on by a neck over Secret Money on yielding turf and finishing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.71.

It was just another neck back in third to the late-running Run for the Hills. Following the top three under the wire beneath the famed Twin Spires were Medalla Match, Elm Drive, Tony Ann, Stone Silent, who challenged for the lead for much of the race, and Miss Speedy. Charriere and Ag Bullet were scratched.

Wilson explained how some horses just make a trainer’s job look deceptively simple.

“She’s so easy to train,” the winning conditioner stated. “She’s so smart, when Flo (Geroux) came back, I asked him, ‘It got kind of tight there, didn’t it?’ And he said, ‘Naw, I had a lot. She just did enough to stay in front.’ She’s a very, very talented filly.”

Ova Charged, sent off at 74 cents on the dollar against seven fellow distaffers, was making only her second foray into a graded stakes. As a three-year-old she ran second in the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont. Friday’s score marked her 10th win at the stakes level but first against graded company. The chestnut has now ended up in the winner’s circle in five consecutive races, three on the turf and two on the dirt, all in stakes company.

Bred in Louisiana, the daughter of Star Guitar is the fourth foal from the stakes-winning Dehere mare Charged Cotton, who has seven winning offspring from as many starters, including 2024 U.A.E. Oaks (G3) heroine Manama Gold, a full sister to the Unbridled Sidney winner.

Ova Charged exits Friday’s score with a stellar record of 16-13-1-0 and a bankroll of $789,200.