Brown juveniles come out firing
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The present is good, and the future looks bright for trainer Chad Brown based on how his first 2-year-old runners of the year performed over the weekend. Brown won a pair of maiden races, one on dirt Saturday with Incentive Pay and one on turf Sunday with Virgin Colada.
Incentive Pay, a son of Volatile owned by Seth Klarman, took advantage of a large opening along the rail to rally on through and draw off to a 2 1/2-length victory in a six-furlong dirt race. Incentive Pay covered the distance in 1:12.20 and earned a 68 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I did not have him fully cranked,” Brown said. “I liked him, his works were good, but I never breezed him past a half-mile. I thought he was 80 percent fit but promising, sharp, ready to at least get started. That’s how I run my babies in this division, if they’re good enough to win first out fine, if not I want them to give a good account of themselves and sort of develop from there. I expected him to have a good chance first out but I never expected him to run a dazzling number.”
Brown said Incentive Pay could be a candidate for the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 2.
On Sunday, Virgin Colada came with a furious late run under Flavien Prat to win a 1 1/16-mile turf race by a half-length. A daughter of More Than Ready owned by John Stewart’s Resolute Racing, Virgin Colada ran the distance in 1:44.32.
Between Friday and Sunday, Brown won seven races – including Sunday’s Grade 2 Shuvee with Raging Sea and Friday’s listed Curlin with Unmatched Wisdom – and is atop the trainer standings with 10 victories, four more than Todd Pletcher and Mark Casse.
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