With a new trainer and a solid record on half-mile tracks, the double millionaire is poised to tackle the multi-leg series at Yonkers.

by Brett Sturman

Fresh off a 1:49.1 win in just his third start of the year, Charlie May is set to make his debut in the MGM Borgata Pacing series when the first preliminary legs start on Monday (March 31) at Yonkers.

Suddenly now a 7-year-old with close to $2.3 million in career earnings, form and timing have aligned as Charlie May will enter the series as one of the top horses to beat.

“He’s never made it until now, but it’s one of the races I wanted to be in at ages 4, 5, and 6,” said Charlie May’s owner Don Tiger. “All three years he was sort of wobbly at the end of the prior year and I couldn’t get him ready for the series. It’s one of those things where he needed a couple of months off and by the time it took to get him back, it never worked out right. But we began targeting this race last year and did some different things with him over the past six to nine months and he’s really sound now and doing well.

“That 1:49.1 win last week at Pocono was with the trainer driving him, too. The first call I got after that race was David Miller. He had to drive one at The Meadowlands that day which was his own horse – otherwise he would have been there for [Charlie May’s] race. It’s all good stuff and he should be a major factor in the series, I predict that.”

Yonkers isn’t a track that Charlie May has frequented too often over the years, but he has been here before. That includes the Aria Invitational Pace most recently from 2022, along with the Messenger elimination and final from 2021; the latter of which he was a closing second to American Courage during a hard rainstorm in the $500,000 race.

Though Charlie May is 0-for-3 in the win column historically at Yonkers (with two seconds), his overall record on half-mile tracks is notably impressive. From 21 starts on a half-mile track, he’s won nine of those, and been second in eight, and third another two times. For that matter, the only time he’s ever been off the board from those races was the 2021 Charles Juravinski Cup at Flamboro Downs when he had an outside post against the likes of Linedrive Hanover, Desperate Man and Bulldog Hanover, and the 2022 Aria when he never got involved from a poor position in a 10-horse field.

As to what sized track suits him best, Tiger said, “Well, it’s interesting. Me and Chris Page have sat around and have had some interesting conversations about Charlie May. Chris thinks he’s better on a mile track and I think he’s better on a half-mile. Because he’s so slick gaited and he has the speed to get into play, but he can also follow, or he can take air. Like at Northfield, you look at all the bad posts he’s drawn there, 6, 7, 8, 9-hole and he’s never been worse than second in any race there, ever. He just finds a way around half-mile tracks.”

After being trained throughout his career by Steve Carter, Charlie May is in a new barn this year with Ron and Heidi Cushing.

“I just wasn’t happy,” said Tiger. “You can put it this way – the last time Charlie May raced before the change he was last or second to last, and the same with my other horse Shane Falco. It’s not a big deal; it was just time for a change, and I’ve been very happy with it. I think Ron and Heidi have been doing great things. They have a smaller stable which I think is important and they stay on top of things. And even Shane Falco – he raced last Monday in an amateur race and won in his first start of the year, so both horses I’m really happy with.”

Tiger also mentioned another sibling to Charlie May that he has in the works.

“I have a 2-year-old PA-bred named Miki May out of the same dam [Stipple Hanover], making him obviously Charlie and Shane’s younger brother and he’s doing phenomenal. He’s training down better than Charlie and there’s a lot still to be seen, but he’s built like Charlie. How fast he is, who knows?”

Like any half-mile track, but even more so perhaps at Yonkers, the draw will play a factor throughout the series and especially into the series final. For his first leg, which goes as race number 5, Charlie May has drawn post 4, but will be looking inwards to a couple of tough, well-positioned rivals. Immediately to his inside is Chase H Hanover and those two are well acquainted having raced throughout their careers from the same racing crop. Huntinthelastdolar should be one of the bigger players throughout the series and he’ll be tough from the rail in Monday’s first division to kick things off. Tiger noted that even though it could work against him should Charlie May progress to the Borgata final, he prefers the open draw system for the series final rather than a system based on points accumulation, on the basis that drawing by points and thus stacking the inside posts could make the race lacking from a wagering perspective.

One of the changes made to the Borgata series for this year was to provide a week off in between the fifth and final preliminary leg and the final. Even with that scheduled week in between, Tiger said that Charlie May will sit out one of the preliminary legs due to a robust 2025 stakes schedule.

“There are a lot of stakes and races out there,” Tiger said. “So, there’s no need to race six weeks in a row and for that matter there’s no need to race five weeks in a row. I don’t know what we’re going to do exactly, but we’re going to be smart and manage the horse properly, that’s for sure.”