Statebreds dangerous in open stakes

The $60,000 Take Charge Brandi, one of two stakes races Friday night at Delta Downs, is for open 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs, but a couple of Louisiana-breds look like major players.

Testing One Two easily could be favored under leading rider Diego Saenz following backto-back Delta blowouts, the most recent in a stakes race. La Mistake, meanwhile, makes her first stakes start and first around two turns after winning her debut by almost four lengths and her second start by more than seven.

Favored at 5-2 on the morning line in the Take Charge Brandi (race 7, 8:27 Central) is the Fair Grounds shipper Upset Brewing, who missed by a nose there last out in the Letellier Stakes. While Upset Brewing has generally contending form, including a second-place finish in the Ellis Park Debutante, neither she nor her trainer, Buff Bradley, have any experience at Delta. Upset Brewing, by Justin Phillip, has run well at the Take Charge Brandi’s seven-furlong distance, but Friday’s race is around two sharp turns with a short homestretch.

The two Louisiana-breds are very much Delta-proven. Testing One Two, a Brittlyn Stable homebred by the hot young local sire Star Guitar, was third debuting at Evangeline Downs in August but has romped in her two Delta tries. In her last start, she captured the statebredrestricted Louisiana Jewel by 16 1/2 lengths about two months ago. Testing One Two is not super quick, and from the look of her stride something even longer than one mile might be ideal, but she should be tough to handle in the Take Charge Brandi.

La Mistake, by the first-crop sire Bind, who had immense raw talent as a racehorse, debuted as no secret Nov. 17, easily winning a Louisianabred maiden race as the 19-10 favorite. She returned Dec. 29 as the 1-5 betting choice in a firstlevel allowance and absolutely cruised to victory. Though La Mistake was slow to change leads in both those races, she gave the appearance of a filly who might enjoy stretching her speed around two turns and a longer trip.

El Dorado ripe for upset

Kathballu is the 9-5 morningline favorite in the $50,000 El Dorado (race 9, 9:22 p.m.), but there are several other ways a bettor might go in this fivefurlong dash for older females.

Kathballu, in from Fair Grounds for trainer Ken McPeek, won her only previous Delta start, the $75,000 Orleans, by eight lengths. But that race came around two turns at seven furlongs and was about 14 months ago, and Kathballu doesn’t seem quite the same mare at this point in her career.

Summer House, the 3-1 morning-line second choice, was third last out in the $75,000 Zia Distaff, but she never has raced at a distance shorter than six furlongs, is a Delta novice, and could be swept into a strong pace.

Flatter Up is in sharp form and has shown her best over the Delta oval, but she’s a frontrunning type who’d be hurt by a contested pace.

Three horses hold some appeal at a price. Boom Bam Bing need only transfer her turf form to dirt to prove a key contender, and that is not out of the question. Persuade Me Lady has run well as a stalking sprinter and is 2-1-0-1 at Delta with a performance there two races ago good enough to win the El Dorado. Finally, Lucky Loretta cuts back from two-turn sprints for trainer Joel Berndt, who has 23 exacta finishes from his 36 Delta starters this meet.