ELMONT, N.Y. - On the day it was announced his Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal would likely be sidelined for the remainder of the year, trainer Todd Pletcher may have found his replacement for the major 3-year-old races to be run this summer. Charge It rebounded from his 17th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby with a whopping 23-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park. Runninsonofagun was second, followed, in order, by Fluid Situation, Unbridled Bomber, No Sabe Nada, and Nabokov. The victory was the second from five starts for Charge It and first in a stakes. It likely sets him up for an opportunity to face some of the division’s better horses at Saratoga this summer in races like the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes on July 30 and/or the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 27. “We were hoping for a good performance today that could put us in a position to look at the Jim Dandy or the Travers or both,” said Pletcher, who won four races on Saturday’s Belmont card including the Grade 2 John Nerud with Life Is Good. “Powerful effort today, so we’re back on track where we thought we were in the Florida Derby time.” :: Get up to 50% off on DRF's premium products, including Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, Picks, the Digital Paper, and DRF Plus Pro! In March, Charge It finished second to White Abarrio in the Florida Derby. He displayed a bit of greenness in that race, lugging in in deep stretch. In the Kentucky Derby, Charge It was found to have displaced his palate, which caused him not to get his air. Charge It underwent a minor procedure, known as a myectomy, which evidently fixed the problem. On Saturday, breaking from the rail under John Velazquez, Charge it was within a half-length of pacesetting Fluid Situation through a quarter in 22.47 seconds and a half-mile in 44.92 seconds. Three furlongs into the race, Velazquez moved Charge It off the rail to get outside of Fluid Situation. Charge It took over from Fluid Situation at the three-furlong pole and extended his lead thereafter despite still showing some signs of immaturity, according to Velazquez. “He switched leads in the stretch and kind of wandered to the inside, I hit him to keep his mind on business,” Velazquez said. “He’s still pretty green. He’s learning how to do everything, his mind is not 100 percent on what he’s supposed to be doing.” Charge It, a son of Tapit owned by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, covered the mile in 1:34.67 and returned $3.20 as the 3-5 favorite. Charge It was given a 111 Beyer Speed Figure. At the five-furlong marker, when Velazquez moved Charge It to the outside, he came over on Nabokov, ridden by Flavien Prat. While there was no official inquiry, the stewards did speak with Velazquez after the race. “He’s trying to push me in, I’m going to hold my position,” Velazquez said after he spoke with the stewards. “If he stays where he was nothing would have happened. Now, he’s trying to hold me when he was half-a-length behind me. You have to have a head in front of me to push me behind horses.” The stewards were satisfied with that explanation. When asked why they didn’t think it was a foul, Carmine Donofrio, the former state steward filling in Saturday for current state steward Braulio Baeza Jr., said only “we didn’t feel it was.” Charge It will now head to Saratoga, where he will likely encounter Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike and Preakness winner Early Voting in the Travers, with perhaps a start in the Jim Dandy beforehand. “It’s all about him telling us what to do,” Pletcher said. “Could we train up to the Travers from here? I don’t think that’s impossible either.” :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.