Brown has solid pair in Matriarch Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – The 2017 turf season is ending the way it began, fortified by the country’s deepest stable of grass runners.

The Matriarch Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar is the final significant Grade 1 turf race of the year, and as usual trainer Chad Brown is in the thick of it. Brown, who won the season’s first Grade 1 turf race in February at Gulfstream Park, starts Off Limits and Rubilinda in trying to knock off likely favorite Cambodia and Kitten’s Roar.

Through Friday, Brown had won nine of the country’s 32 Grade 1 turf races this year. His participation is pending in the American Oaks next month at Santa Anita, technically the final turf Grade 1 of 2017. Meanwhile, the Brown juggernaut continues full throttle.

Twelve fillies and mares entered the $300,000 Matriarch (race 7), a one-mile race on closing day of the Del Mar meet. The card includes the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap (race 3) led by Om, and the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (race 9) for 2-year-olds in which Brown-trained Analyze It is a leading contender.

While Brown’s success in 2017 is no surprise, it is surprising for Off Limits, a mare not considered Grade 1 caliber when the year began. She was merely an Irish import who lost all five allowance races in 2016. Brown and owner Martin Schwartz put her away for the winter. When she returned this year at age 5, everything changed.

“She came in a much bigger, stronger mare,” Brown said. “She must have had some things internally that were bothering her that she cleared up while turned out.”

Off Limits won her 2017 debut in June, finished second in a minor stakes race, then reeled off three straight, including back-to-back Grade 3 races at Belmont Park, all at 1 1/16 miles or less. The one-mile distance of the Matriarch is perfect.

“Since she came in this season, she’s never missed a beat with a workout or a race,” Brown said. “She’s developed into quite a nice mare.”

Off Limits is not Grade 1 caliber yet, but neither was likely Matriarch favorite Cambodia when she made her local debut in August. She thrived in California. Cambodia won two Grade 2 races at Del Mar, followed by a third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

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Cambodia typifies the class ascent that is possible when a sharp horse gains confidence. Four months after finishing third in a Grade 3 at Parx Racing, the same 5-year-old mare finished third in the Breeders’ Cup. She is trained by Tom Proctor.

Kitten’s Roar, whose trainer Mike Maker is nearing 2,000 career wins (1,996 through Thursday) is sharp. The 5-year-old mare scored a decisive victory last out in the Grade 2 Goldikova at Del Mar after she unleashed a sub-23 second final quarter. Her challenge Sunday is post: Kitten’s Roar has post 12.

Rubilinda, the second Brown entrant, is a lightly raced 3-year-old facing older stakes winners for the first time. She also is racing two turns for the first time. She has won 3 of 4, including back-to-back stakes for 3-year-olds. She is good. Is she good enough?

“It’s a tall order,” Brown acknowledged. “She’s an aggressive type of horse, which would be the biggest thing she needs to overcome. If she can get some sort of cozy position early where she just settles, I think she’ll put in a nice run.”

Other starters in the Matriarch include Lull, whose front-running style is at odds with the closers-friendly course profile. Through Thursday, only two of the 26 turf miles this meet had been won by the pacesetter.

Lull, trained by Christophe Clemente, won a Grade 3 for 3-year-old fillies last out at Santa Anita after pressing a blazing pace and winning in 1:32.66. She could set the pace Sunday in the Matriarch.

Others in the field include Mrs Dougal, Pretty Girl, Belvoir Bay, Insta Erma, Thundering Sky, Hawksmoor, and Miss Julia Star.

Sunday’s closing-day program at Del Mar includes a mandatory payout in the pick six. The winter-fall meet at Los Alamitos opens Thursday.

BROWN ON GREEN
Chad Brown G1 turf wins 2017; chronological order

DATE, TRACK	RACE	HORSE
Feb. 11, GP	Gulfstream Park Handicap	Almanaar
May 27, SA	Gamely Stakes	Lady Eli
June 10, BEL	Just a Game	Antonoe
July 8, BEL	Belmont Oaks Invitational	New Money Honey
July 22, SAR	Diana Stakes	Lady Eli
Aug. 12, AP	Beverly D	Dacita
Aug. 12, AP	Arlington Million	Beach Patrol
Sept. 30, BEL	Turf Classic Invitational	Beach Patrol
Nov. 3, DMR	BC Juvenile Fillies Turf	Rushing Fall

Brown’s overall 2017 record G1 turf races = 41-9-10-5
35 = total number Grade 1’s on turf in 2017 in U.S.
Three remain: Hollywood Derby (Sat), Matriarch (Sun), American Oaks (December)