Take Charge Brandi won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as the longest short on the board and is now working on winning this year's Eclipse championship. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)

Thoroughbred racing, perhaps more than any sport, offers its competitors the opportunity for a meteoric rise to the top. Take Charge Brandi is a prime example.

Five and a half weeks ago, the Giant’s Causeway filly was a 61.70-to-1 longshot in the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies – the highest odds of any of the 12 fillies in the field – and on Saturday she can sew up the Eclipse Awards as champion 2-year-old filly.

TAKE CHARGE BRANDI AFTER WINNING THE BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES

Take Charge Brandi will attempt to extend her winning streak to three on Saturday at Los Alamitos in the Grade 1, $350,000 Starlet Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race previously contested as the Hollywood Starlet at the now-closed Hollywood Park.

Her trainer, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, owns a record five wins in the race, including four straight from 1994-1997. He often says he likes to run horses when they are good, and right now Take Charge Brandi is in fantastic form.

After her front-running upset in the Juvenile Fillies, Take Charge Brandi returned in the $400,000 Delta Downs Princess and won that Grade 3 race by 1 ½ lengths on Nov. 22 at Delta Downs. With three wins in seven starts this year, including the most prestigious race in her division, and $1,410,126 in purse earnings, Take Charge Brandi must be considered a top contender for the Eclipse Award.

2014 BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES

A win Saturday in the Starlet could and probably would remove any doubt.

Current owner Willis Horton purchased Take Charge Brandi for $435,000 out of the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale, and she certainly had the pedigree to be an elite runner. Her pedigree was one that was quite familiar to Horton and Lukas.

Horton raced and Lukas trained 2013 champion 3-year-old male Will Take Charge, a half-brother (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) to Take Charge Brandi’s dam, Charming. Grade 1 winner Take Charge Indy also is a half-brother to Charming.

Will Take Charge, Take Charge Indy and Charming all were produced by brilliant multiple Grade 1 winner Take Charge Lady.

It’s no shock that Horton and Lukas were eager to tap back into that family after the success of Will Take Charge, but Take Charge Brandi’s rise to prominence has come as a surprise to many fans. After all, she was beaten by double-digit lengths in three straight graded stakes between Aug. 10 and Oct. 3.

What a difference a few months make! Now, Take Charge Brandi is sitting in the driver’s seat of the 2-year-old filly division with a chance to seal an Eclipse Award on Saturday at Los Alamitos.