Charisma Hanover charged to the lead early on and never looked back en route to a Grand Circuit victory in $84,000 Courageous Lady for three-year-old pacing fillies on Friday night at Northfield Park.

With Dave Palone in the sulky, 3-5 favourite Charisma Hanover cleared to command at the :27.1 first quarter mark and cruised through middle splits of :56.1 and 1:25.1 en route to the one length victory in 1:53 flat. Champagne Tonight and Brett Miller followed from the pocket to place while Carols Desire, driven by Ronnie Wrenn Jr., rallied three-wide at the third quarter mark to come on for third.

"She acts like she's the real deal," said Palone, who earned his third victory in the Courageous Lady Stake. "I know the filly that Brett drove is a really good filly too, but she probably needed a start. I'm sure they'll hook up a lot more this season."

Charisma Hanover earned three wins and two seconds in eight starts to bank $47,137 in her freshman year before being sold to trainer Ron Burke's Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. The Dragon Again-Caught The Bouquet filly is now two-for-two during her sophomore season.