Brown juvenile Jack Christopher turns heads with debut victory

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It’s not often a trainer wins a Grade 2 stakes at Saratoga but people walk away talking more about the maiden that trainer won with earlier on the card.

On Saturday, at Saratoga, trainer Chad Brown won the Grade 2, $400,000 Ballston Spa Stakes with Viadera, but an hour earlier, the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer unleashed a good-looking 2-year-old colt in Jack Christopher.

A son of Munnings, Jack Christopher scored an 8 3/4-length debut win, running six furlongs in 1:09.85 and earning a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Only the now-sidelined Big City Lights (93), has earned a higher figure among juveniles at this point of the year.

“That horse had really been training well and was one of the handful of buzz 2-year-olds to run here this meet,” Brown said. “Big relief for a trainer when they run to those works.”

Brown plans to run Jack Christopher in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont on Oct. 2.

“That’s really the race you want to get to when a horse is that brilliant,” Brown said. “You’re going to have all these boy winners from Saratoga looking at that race, it’ll be some race if everyone stays healthy. He seems like one of the ones in the conversation.”

On Sunday, Brown won a 2-year-old filly maiden race with second-time starter Gerrymander, a daughter of Into Mischief, who beat the Brown first-time starter Distinctlypossible by a half-length. Gerrymander was sent off at 10-1 after she finished second, beaten 9 3/4 lengths as the 1-2 favorite on debut in a June 10 maiden race at Belmont Park.

Brown said those who prepared Gerrymander early in her career felt she was precocious enough to run early and, after training her when she came in, he agreed.

“I was extremely disappointed how she was beat by that many lengths and really just gave up in the lane and I guess got very tired,” Brown said. “We came to Saratoga to regroup. We waited until she was really telling us she was ready to run again and her last work really signaled that.”

Brown said he hadn’t thought past Sunday’s race as to where Gerrymander would run next, though the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont on Oct. 3 would likely be considered.

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Meanwhile, Viadera will likely return to Grade 1 company after she held on to beat High Opinion by a nose in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Ballston Spa. Viadera was making just her second start of the year and was running back 20 days after finishing fourth as the 6-5 favorite in the listed De La Rose Stakes.

“She got the job done. She had such a troubled trip in the previous start she didn’t get a chance to do a lot of running,” Brown said.

Brown said Viadera will likely be pointed to the Grade 1 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 9 and then the Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar on Nov. 28. Viadera won last year’s Matriarch by a nose over stablemate Blowout.

On Sunday, Brown won the $120,000 Better Talk Now Stakes with Sifting Sands, who got up in the final strides to nail Dreamer’s Disease by a head. It capped a two-week run for Brown during which he won 17 races from 52 starters after winning 17 races from 96 starters over the first 24 days of the meet.

Heading into the final six days of the meet, Brown leads the trainer standings with 34 wins, nine more than runner-up Todd Pletcher.