As first reported by DRF's Nicole Russo, Take Charge Milady (Take Charge Indy) is a question mark for next week's GI Kentucky Oaks after she developed a foot abscess and the team continues to try to get it squared away before the looming deadline.
Entries for the Kentucky Oaks, set for May 2, were taken Saturday morning with post position being drawn later in the day. According to trainer Kenny McPeek, the entry was submitted, and the plan will be to wait and see what kind of week it turns into for their filly.
“We don't know if we have enough time to get that together–there's a chance she could miss the race,” McPeek told the DRF Saturday morning after a routine gallop. “It's minor, but at the same time, timing's a little bit tricky. At this point, we're going to enter her, and we're going to see what kind of week we have.”
Abscesses are a routine problem for most horses, and usually clear up with time and consistent management. It is not unusual for horses to continue moving soundly throughout the treatment process, but with Take Charge Milady's abscess, McPeek reportedly told the DRF that the location is in a 'trickier' spot on her right foot. It has developed in the coronet band at the top of the hoof. Muddy or continually wet conditions can contribute to a horse developing an abscess, and with days of rain currently forecasted for late next week, the weather conditions will not be making things easy.
The filly had prior troubles with her foot as an entry Mar. 29 in the GII Fantasy Stakes turned into a scratch after she developed a quarter crack which required stitching and a shoeing adjustment. She fired a :47.80 work at Oaklawn Park (1/61, Mar. 30) in advance of the GI Ashland Stakes at Keeneland and finished a closing second to GISW La Cara (Street Sense). She produced a bullet five furlong move Apr. 18 at Churchill Downs in :59.40, the fastest of 12 on the morning when working in company with MGSP Gowells Delight (Practical Joke).
“We don't know if they're together, but more than likely, there is some correlation between the two,” McPeek told the DRF of the quarter crack and the abscess.
He continued in that interview, “She ran a really good race–a race that justifies her being a Kentucky Oaks filly. But the little abscess, timing's really bad.”
“She worked good this morning, she gallops good, but that little abscess wants to irritate her. We've just got to see if we can get her 100 per cent by next weekend.”
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