Brown has two contenders in quest for Jenny Wiley win record

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rushing Fall isn’t walking through that paddock tunnel. Neither is Sistercharlie, Uni, Newspaperofrecord, or any of the other fillies and mares who have helped make Chad Brown the undisputed master of America’s turf courses in recent years.

And yet, even with those standouts retired following the 2020 racing season, it’ll still be Brown with the horses to beat when Keeneland runs the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley for the 33rd time Saturday. Having restocked his powerhouse stable with a seemingly endless supply of top-shelf equine talent, Brown will be represented by Tamahere and Etoile when seeking a fourth straight victory, and a record fifth overall, in this 1 1/16-mile turf race.

Tamahere will have Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard when breaking from post 2, and Etoile will have Javier Castellano up when leaving from post 4. Only four others are in opposition.

Tamahere and Etoile both are French-breds making their first starts since last fall. Whereas Tamahere ended her 3-year-old season by finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Matriarch in late November, Etoile ended her 4-year-old campaign on a high note by winning the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor in mid-October.

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Both horses were given brief freshenings before going back to work at separate training facilities in Florida over the winter. Tamahere got six timed works under her at Payson Park, starting in late February, while Etoile began breezing a few weeks before that at Palm Meadows, leaving with eight works. Both had a final pre-race blowout over the Keeneland turf Sunday morning when going a half-mile together in 49.20 seconds (dogs up).

“They both came around really well in their training and are coming into this the right way,” said Brown, who will have assistant Whit Beckman handle all saddling duties in his stead this weekend while staying home in New York.

Following six starts at 2 and 3 in France, Tamahere burst onto the U.S. scene with aplomb last October, winning the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont Park with an eye-catching mid-race surge. Her only subsequent start came in the Matriarch.

Conversely, Etoile was nowhere to be found in her stateside debut last spring following seven starts in France, but she quickly picked it up. Eighth as the favorite in the Grade 1 Gamely in late May, she then rebounded with a pair of big efforts at Woodbine, winning the E.P. Taylor after a close runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly.

Tamahere and Etoile will be looking to follow in the hoofsteps of Brown’s previous Jenny Wiley winners, those being Ball Dancing (2015), Sistercharlie (2018), and Rushing Fall (2019-20). The 2018 renewal was peak Brown, as he swept the trifecta that year with Fourstar Crook second and Off Limits third.

If Brown is to be denied his first Grade 1 of 2021 – despite not even being a finalist for the Eclipse Award for top trainer for a fifth straight year, he did lead all trainers in 2020 with 12 Grade 1 wins – the most logical choice is 2-1 favorite Micheline (post 1, Luis Saez), a 4-year-old filly coming off a hard-earned victory in the Grade 2 Hillsborough five weeks ago at Tampa Bay Downs.

Micheline, by Bernardini, came to hand last summer at Kentucky Downs when running down Harvey’s Lil Goil to win the Dueling Grounds Oaks. Harvey’s Lil Goil then turned the tables on her by winning the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October, with Micheline a good second, after which Micheline returned from a four-month layoff with a vengeance in the Hillsborough at Tampa, downing a group that may have been the deepest for any filly-mare turf race all winter in Florida.

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“We were tickled, because it wasn’t unreasonable to expect she might need the Tampa race,” trainer Michael Stidham said. “She came out of it good and now here we are, hoping to make her a Grade 1 winner.”

Micheline will race some 30 minutes after her younger half-brother, Proxy, goes postward for Godolphin and Stidham as the favorite in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes. Both are Godolphin homebreds produced by the mare Panty Raid.

The rest of the Jenny Wiley lineup is Juliet Foxtrot, Maxim Rate, and La Signare. Of those, Juliet Foxtrot (post 3, Tyler Gaffalione) seems to rate the best chance, especially if left alone on an easy lead as might well happen.

The Jenny Wiley, named for the legendary pioneer who died in 1831, caps an all-stakes pick four (races 7-10) when directly following the Lexington as the 10th of 11 Saturday races. Post time is 6:03 p.m. Eastern, with the 11th race going at 6:38.