Brown basks in glow of Breeders' Cup triple

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown was sitting behind his desk in his Belmont Park office Monday morning, dealing with the present, with the most pressing issue being when and where to ship the horses he has remaining at Saratoga.

But certainly he had time to visit the past – the recent past – as in this weekend, when he won three Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita.

“It’s starting to sink in,” Brown said. “It’s one of those things you wish you could go back and do it again this weekend. Time flies by. We had a lot of fun out there and we had some good luck go our way.”

Brown brought 11 horses to Santa Anita and ran in six of the 13 Breeders’ Cup events held between Friday and Saturday. Brown ran one-two in the $2 million Filly and Mare Turf with Dayatthespa and Stephanie’s Kitten; he won the $1 million Turf Sprint with Bobby’s Kitten, who rallied from last; and he also took Friday’s $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf with Lady Eli, with Brown runners also finishing fifth, sixth, and seventh.

The most emotional win may have been the Turf Sprint with Bobby’s Kitten, who made a remarkable run from last to win by a half-length over No Nay Never. Bobby’s Kitten made up 13 lengths in the final 2 1/2 furlongs, which he ran in about 26.40 seconds.

“I didn’t think he had any chance,” Brown said. “This horse’s last quarter is not only the fastest last quarter of any horse of mine I’ve seen, I can’t recall any race I’ve seen where a horse ran that fast the last quarter of a mile. I just can’t believe he got there.”

Bobby’s Kitten was named by owner Ken Ramsey in honor of the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, for whom Brown once worked as an assistant. Another assistant of Frankel’s, Humberto Ascanio, attended the races and watched the race with Brown.

“The hug I felt with him I never felt before,” Brown said.

Brown said that the Ascanio took the flowers from the winner’s wreath to Frankel’s grave and sent Brown a picture of it.

“It was a big deal for us,” Brown said.

Brown noted that Frankel had an influence in his decision to run Dayatthespa in the Filly and Mare Turf. Though Dayatthespa was best at a mile, Brown thought he had nothing to lose by trying to stretch her to 1 1/4 miles and see if she could wire the field. It was similar to the move Frankel made in 2005 with Intercontinental, who won the Filly and Mare Turf at Belmont Park in her first try at 1 1/4 miles after winning the WinStar Galaxy at a mile. The Galaxy is now known as the First Lady, the race Dayatthespa had won in her previous start.

“I remember when he put Intercontinental in this race here at Belmont going a mile and a quarter, and we basically took the same approach,” Brown said. “What do we have to lose? She’s 5 years old, she’s not going to run anymore, she resists restraint at a mile anyway, let’s see what happens if we let her drop the bit and gallop along on the front and do it that way.”

Stephanie’s Kitten came charging in the stretch, but could not get to Dayatthespa, who may have clinched the filly and mare turf championship.

Both Dayatthespa and Stephanie’s Kitten were to be sold Monday night at the Fasig-Tipton November auction in Lexington, Ky.

“When you run one-two in the Filly and Mare Turf and you lose both of them two days later, it leaves a huge hole in your barn,” Brown said. “But that’s the nature of horse racing: they don’t race forever.”

Brown may already have their replacement in Lady Eli, who showed a devastating turn of foot to win Friday’s $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf. That completed a 3-for-3 campaign, and coupled with Take Charge Brandi’s 60-1 upset in the Juvenile Fillies, may have opened the door for Lady Eli to be crowned 2-year-old filly champion.

“She just has an incredible turn of foot like no other turf horse, male or female, I’ve ever had,” Brown said.

The biggest disappointment of the weekend was Zivo’s eighth-place finish in the Classic. Brown said that Zivo did not handle the surface.