Will Take Charge settles in at Gulfstream

Champion Will Take Charge arrived by van early Tuesday morning at Gulfstream

Park, where the D. Wayne Lukas-trained four-year-old star is slated to make his

2014 debut in Sunday's $500,000 Donn Handicap.

The son of Unbridled Song, who was named last year's champion three-year-old

at the Eclipse Awards ceremony at Gulfstream Park last month, appeared alert and

bright after his journey from Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

"He handled the trip great. It's unbelievable how good he is. It took us 20

hours and 20 minutes to get here, and you'd never know it to look at him," said

John Sica, the Lukas assistant who drove the van that delivered the likely

favorite for Sunday's 1 1/8-mile fixture. "He has a great mind."

Lukas, a five-time Eclipse Award winner who has saddled four Kentucky Derby

winners and 14 winners of Triple Crown events overall, is expected to be at

Gulfstream on Friday, Sica said.

As the 123-pound highweight, Will Take Charge will concede at least four

pounds to his Donn rivals, expected to include Louisiana Derby winner

Revolutionary (119), Hal's Hope victor Lea (117), Harlan's Holiday winner River

Seven, 2012 Indiana Derby hero Neck 'n Neck, and Discovery Handicap winner

Romansh. The 59th running of the Donn Handicap will be nationally televised by

Fox Sports 1 (5-6:30 p.m. EST), kicking off "The Jockey Club Tour on FOX"

series.

Will Take Charge is stabled in Barn 2 with former Lukas assistant Todd

Pletcher's Gulfstream division, two barns away from Mucho Macho Man, who nosed

him out of a victory in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on

November 2. The Lukas-trained colt had previously captured the Travers at

Saratoga and the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx. He concluded his championship

season with a triumph over older rivals in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs

on November 29.

"He is such a good horse," Sica said. "His mother was a really good horse;

his brother won the Florida Derby."

The breeding of Willis Horton's champion would certainly suggest that the

Kentucky-bred colt will be well-suited to the Gulfstream surface. His dam,

multiple Grade 1-stakes winner Take Charge Lady, produced Take Charge Indy, who

captured the 2012 Florida Derby for trainer Patrick Byrne. His sire, Unbridled's

Song, was a Florida Derby winner for trainer James Ryerson, defeating the

Lukas-trained Editor's Note by more than five lengths in 1996.

Will Take Charge is scheduled to walk Wednesday before getting acquainted

with the Gulfstream racetrack Thursday morning.

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