Brown has two for Champagne

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown said Sunday he most likely will run both Practical Joke, the winner of the Grade 1 Hopeful, and Favorable Outcome, a sharp debut winner at Saratoga, in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont on Oct. 8.

Both horses are owned by Seth Klarman and William Lawrence. The two horses worked five furlongs in 1:00.91 together over the Belmont main track on Sunday.

“At this time, I’m planning on running both,” Brown said. “There’s a small chance one of them could separate and go to the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Right now, I’m inclined to probably take a shot with both of them right out of our home barn, over our home track, and over a track they’ve been breezing over.”

Brown said that Bobby On Fleek, his impressive New York-bred juvenile who finished second in the Funny Cide Stakes, is sidelined for the remainder of the year due to an ankle chip.

Syndergaard, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt who defeated Bobby On Fleek by 10 1/4 lengths in the Funny Cide, worked five furlongs in 1:01.87 on Sunday at Belmont in preparation for the Champagne. Syndergaard is 2 for 2.