Brown duo face stiff competition in Lake Placid Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There are many times a trainer shows up in the paddock thinking he can’t lose the upcoming race. There have been very, very few occasions, however, when a trainer arrived there knowing he couldn’t lose.

One of those rare cases took place at Saratoga four weeks ago, when trainer Chad Brown sent out all three starters in the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes. Regal Glory defeated Blowout by a half-length that day with stablemate Dogtag finishing another 1 3/4 lengths farther back in third.

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On Saturday at Saratoga, Regal Glory and Blowout will square off again under somewhat different circumstances, when they face five non-stablemates in the Grade 2 Lake Placid at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Regal Glory rallied from third and last to wear down the pacesetting Blowout to become a graded stakes winner in the one-mile Lake George. The steadily improving daughter of Animal Kingdom received a career-best Beyer Speed Figure, an 88, the fifth straight time she has accomplished that feat since launching her career with an easy maiden win last fall at Belmont Park.

Blowout has not finished worse than second in five career starts, with the combined margin of her three setbacks less than a length. She was second, beaten just a half-length by the current division leader Concrete Rose, this past winter at Tampa Bay Downs in the Florida Oaks.

“Obviously, the last race was a really unusual situation,” Brown said of the Lake George. “It probably will never happen again, but I’ll take it if I’m guaranteed a win. This is a totally different kind of race. It’s a deep, well-balanced field, and both my horses will have to really step up, run their best race to date to win. It’s the kind of race if you run it three times you’d probably get three different winners.”

The pace scenario in the Lake Placid could favor the speedy Blowout, although Brown is not committing her to the lead Saturday.

“There isn’t a whole lot of speed in here, although I’m not sure being on the lead is her favorite place to run,” Brown said. “They both should be forwardly placed, although I’ll let the riders figure it out at the break.”

Blowout has a win and two seconds at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Lake Placid, while Regal Glory will be trying to stay that far for the first time.

“I’m not sure how much it will help them, but I don’t think either of my fillies will be bothered by the extra distance,” Brown said.

For those looking to side against the two likely favorites, there are many options, and they might begin with Feel Glorious, idle since her fourth-place finish behind Blowout in the one-mile Wild Applause on June 22 at Belmont Park. Feel Glorious won her only try going 1 1/16 miles, defeating Blowout by a head in the Memories of Silver last spring at Aqueduct.