With 20 qualifying points already to her credit, Take Charge Milady takes the next step on Oaklawn Park’s road to the 2025 Kentucky Oaks (G1) on Sunday when she faces 12 others in the $500,000 Honeybee (G3).
The 1 1/16-mile race was originally scheduled for Saturday but moved to Sunday because of inclement winter weather. It carries Oaks qualifying points of 50-25-15-10-5 to the top five.
Trained by Kenny McPeek for James Ball, Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), and Kenneth Rhodes, Take Charge Milady is 2-for-2 in 2025, having broken her maiden at third asking on Jan. 5 going a mile. With Julien Leparoux up, the Take Charge Indy stalked early fractions of 23.67 and 49.09 over the muddy track before taking command pulling clear to a four-length victory.
She followed that effort with a dominating effort over 1-2 favorite Quietside in the listed Martha Washington three weeks later, drawing away to take the 1 1/16-mile race by 5 ¾ lengths. The race’s 20 points put her eighth on the list of top fillies for the Oaks, led by Good Cheer.
“She’s always been a filly we were fond of,” McPeek said of Take Charge Milady, who will be joined in the starting gate by stablemate Anonima. “She had a small issue in the summer of her 2-year-old year, but I think that was fortuitous because it gave her time to grow up and look, the sky’s the limit with her.
“When I bought her, I bought her because her resemblance to Take Charge Lady was eerie, and I do think there’s something to that. [Take Charge Lady’s] son just basically printed her. It’s pretty cool,” he added.
Take Charge Milady, the 9-2 fourth betting choice, will have to get past 7-5 favorite Muhimma, who closed out her juvenile season by winning the Demoiselle (G2) at Aqueduct. The undefeated Munnings filly will be going for her fourth straight in her 2025 debut for Shadwell Stables and Brad Cox, having broken her maiden by 7 ½ lengths and her next start by 5 ½ lengths.
Expected to attract considerable support as well are the George Weaver-trained Five G (4-1), who won the Cash Run on January 1 at Gulfstream Park by nine lengths, and Martha Washington runner-up Quietside (8-1). Her owner, Ed Anthony, will also be represented by Jenkin.
Joining the fray is Quickick, who closed out her juvenile year with a second in the Alcibiades (G1) and a third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and Look Forward, winner of the Santa Ynez on Jan. 5 at Santa Anita.
Rounding out the field are Necessity, Classic Appeal, Gunite Max, Going Steady, and Flash Ware.
The next Oaks points qualifier at Oaklawn Park is the $750,000 Fantasy Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16-miles on March 29, which offers 100 Oaks points to the winner.
Post time for the Honeybee is 5:07 p.m. ET.
For those who bet horse racing ...
(1 Muhimma (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox), 7-5
2 Necessity (Ramon Vazquez, Norm Casse), 20-1
3 Jenkin (Francisco Arrieta, Lindsay Schultz), 20/1
4 Classic Appeal (Umberto Rispoli, Robert Hess), 50-1
5 Quickick (Dylan Davis, Tom Amoss), 12-1
6 Take Charge Milady (Julien Leparoux, Kenny McPeek), 9-2
7 Gunite Max (Cindy Murphy, Travis Murphy), 30-1
8 Going Steady (Tyler Bacon, D. Wayne Lukas), 30-1
9 Look Forward (Mario Gutierrez, Michael McCarthy), 6-1
10 Flash Wear (Cristian Torres, Tom Vance), 50-1
11 Anonima (Brian Hernandez, Jr., Kenny McPeek), 15-1
12 Quietside (Jose Ortiz, John Ortiz), 8-1
13 Five G (Irad Ortiz, Jr., George Weaver), 4-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
