Brown has the horses to beat in Skidmore Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Trainer Chad Brown holds the upper hand when he sends out arguably the two leading contenders in the pair of Oxymore and Appraise in Friday’s $150,000 Skidmore at Saratoga.

The Skidmore, for 2-year-olds going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, drew a field of 10 that also includes the stakes-tested No Nay Hudson along with impressive maiden turf winners Private Creed, Noble Huntsman, and Fadethenoise.

Oxymore was purchased privately and turned over to Brown shortly after his eye-catching 6 1/2-length victory going six furlongs over the Belmont Park turf on July 1. Oxymore had prepped for his first start at Presque Isle Downs with his former trainer, Adam Rice.

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“He transferred to me in good order and has trained along well since I’ve had him,” Brown said. “I know he showed a lot of speed in his first race, but he looks like a horse who will stretch out to at least a mile. I didn’t want to put him at a mile and one-sixteenth in the With Anticipation just yet, and this seems like a good bridge, maybe.”

Brown said there is a bit of a different process bringing a horse that just joined his barn, like Oxymore, up to a stakes like the Skidmore than for a horse that has been in his barn all along, like Appraise.

“Getting to know the horse, trying to figure out what I want to do with him, that’s all something we need to learn after he comes into the barn,” Brown said. “He came in off a sprint, so we need to see if he’s a horse that wants to stretch and he does seem that way. He’s not an aggressive horse at all. He doesn’t train like a runaway speed horse.”

Appraise was overlooked in the wagering for a Brown-trained 2-year-old when going off at 11-1 in his only start, but rallied from just off the pace to a game head victory here July 22. That performance may have surprised the bettors, but it came as no surprise to his trainer.

“He was 11-1 because he trained at Monmouth,” Brown said. “But I’ve always liked him. I was quite surprised he went off at those odds. He’s also a horse, perhaps one that’s even a little more obvious than Oxymore, that I think is going to stretch out.”

No Nay Hudson began his career winning on dirt going 4 1/2 furlongs on April 28 at Keeneland and returned to finish fourth as the 2-1 favorite following an eventful trip in the Tremont at Belmont Park. No Nay Hudson figures to handle the switch to grass, being by No Nay Never out of the dam Raw Silk, who won three times on turf, including the Grade 3 Sands Point.

Private Creed launched his career by rallying to a 1 1/4-length victory on the grass at Ellis Park for trainer Steve Asmussen on July 30. Noble Huntsman also won at first asking three days earlier over the local strip, drawing off to a convincing 4 1/2-length triumph against New York-bred competition.

Fadethenoise also was a one-sided maiden winner going 5 1/2 furlongs at Ellis in his turf debut, and certainly demands respect if able to improve off that performance in just his third start.