G2 Santa Margarita Winner As Time Goes By 15th Stakes Winner for Sire
American Pharoah’s regally-bred As Time Goes By (4f American Pharoah x Take Charge Lady, by Dehere) won her first graded stakes in style on Saturday at Santa Anita with a 9 ¼ length romp in the G2 Santa Margarita.
Racing over 1 1/8 miles for Bob Baffert and the Coolmore partners, As Time Goes By gave her rivals no chance from the start. The 4-year-old was the first out of the gate and the race was basically over from there.
Uncle Mo’s Harvest Moon raced a half-length behind her around the first turn before Mike Smith let As Time Goes By out a notch and she opened up a length. She was done playing with that runner around the turn and started to pull away with no urging from Smith and the margin grew with every stride.
As Time Goes By was never asked by Smith as she lengthened her margin to 9 ¼ lengths in the end. The filly led him home a Coolmore-sired 1st, 3rd, 4th with Harvest Moon finishing ahead of another American Pharoah filly in Pharaoh’s Heart.
“She’s beautifully bred, and I knew the older she gets, the better she’s gonna get,” said Baffert. “Mike is so great with these good mares and he just gets the most out of her. I was debating on running her next week in Kentucky or here but because I want to develop her slowly and the Breeders’ Cup is the main goal we chose to stay. She’s gonna get better with age. She’s so sweet like her sire. She’s the sweetest thing in the barn. I have a soft spot for her, because I think of American Pharoah every time I walk by her stall.”
Bred by Orpendale and Chelston, As Time Goes By’s pedigree is one of the strongest in the studbook. She is the youngest foal out of Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady, whose runners also include champion Will Take Charge and Grade I winner Take Charge Indy.
The mare’s influence doesn’t stop there with daughter Charming producing champion Take Charge Brandi, triple Grade I winner Omaha Beach, and Grade I-placed Courage Under Fire. Another daughter is also responsible for stakes-placed Intelligence.
A leading first and second crop sire, American Pharoah is the sire of 10 graded stakes winners and 15 stakes winners around the world with his 28 stakes horses coming in six different countries.