Charge It All to try Gasparilla

A third 2-year-old filly in the Tim Hamm barn will get a chance to become a stakes winner at 3 after Charge It All pulled a mild upset Sunday in an allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs.

Hamm said Charge It All could go next in the Jan. 16 Gasparilla at the Oldsmar, Fla., oval after rallying for a 1 1/2-length victory in 1:18.30 going 6 1/2 furlongs. She paid $13.40 when coming off a nose victory in a $50,000 maidenclaiming race at Gulfstream West.

“I like this horse a lot,” Hamm told Tampa publicity afterward. “At this time last year, she was really fat and she looked kind of like a cow. I didn’t know if she would ever slim down, but after being in Miami in June, July, and August, she got some scope to her and has turned into a real nice filly. I’m pleased with her performance. I think there is some upside to her.”

Charge It All, by Will Take Charge, joins Day out of the office and Alexandria on Hamm’s list of fillies looking to make noise next year at 3. Easily the most accomplished of the group is Day out of the office, who gave the trainer his first-ever Grade 1 victory when capturing the Frizette at Belmont Park in October prior to finishing second as the front-runner in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. Hamm also trains Alexandria, a three-time stakes winner in Ohio this year.

All three fillies are owned in part by Hamm’s main longtime client, Blazing Meadows Farm.

Since shortly after the Breeders’ Cup, Day out of the office has been on a break at Siena Farm in Paris, Ky. She will soon head to Blazing Meadows South in Ocala to begin preparing for Kentucky Oaks prep races, Hamm said.

The Gasparilla is among the next group of stakes to be run Jan. 16 at Tampa, along with the Pasco and Wayward Lass.

Nine on Wednesday, Thursday

A nine-race Wednesday card featuring a $23,750 allowance (race 2) kicks off this week at Tampa, where a nine-race Thursday card will replace the Christmas dark day (Friday) on the schedule. First post is 12:42 p.m. Eastern for Wednesday and 12:15 for Thursday.

The regular four-day schedule resumes after Christmas, with Sundays having been added as of last week.

59-1 shot storms home

Holy Diver became the longest-priced winner of the Tampa meet when up by a head in the fourth race Saturday at a $120.20 mutuel. Jockey Chad Lindsay, back at Tampa following a four-year absence, combined for the upset with trainer Cody Axmaker, who is in his first year at Tampa.

Holy Diver, a 5-year-old Florida-bred mare, was making her second start at a meet that began Nov. 25.

“It seems like most of my horses need a race here,” Axmaker said. “It’s a little different than some tracks.”