Louisiana-Bred Star Ova Charged Euthanized

Brittlyn Stable’s Ova Charged (Star Guitar–Charged Cotton, by Dehere), winner of this year’s GIII Unbridled Sidney Stakes and owner of the year’s top Beyer Speed Figure, fell leaving the eighth pole during the running of Saturday’s Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies’ Turf Sprint Stakes and was subsequently euthanized. According to the track’s Kevin Kerstein, the 6-year-old mare suffered a right front fetlock injury. Jockey Corey Lanerie walked back to the jockeys’ room under his power.

Bred in Louisiana by Evelyn Benoit’s operation, Ova Charged won eight of her first nine starts, including five state-bred stakes events while under the care of trainer Jose Camejo. Turned over to trainer Shane Wilson at the tail end of 2023, Ova Charged had rattled off another seven black-type wins, including her first such success in open company in the Feb. 13 Mardi Gras Stakes at the Fair Grounds. In her very next appearance, she thrashed her fellow Louisiana-breds by 12 1/2 lengths in the Page Cortez Stakes, running the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:01.90 which translated into a massive 113 Beyer Speed Figure. She won the Chicken Fried Stakes at Lone Star Park June 29 in her most recent appearance.

Ova Charged amassed a record of 15-1-0 from 19 starts for earnings of $918,575. Her passing comes just a month after the tragic death of Louisiana-bred Grade I winner Alva Starr (Lord Nelson) in a training injury.