Brown looking ahead after an unforgettable Million Day

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Chad Brown might have wanted to linger at Arlington following his insanely successful Saturday, when he won, in order, the Grade 1 Beverly D. with Sistercharlie, the Grade 1 Secretariat with Valid Point, the Grade 1 Million with Bricks and Mortar, and the Grade 3 Pucker Up with Cafe Americano. But the wheel on which a major trainer lives keeps spinning round whether through success or failure and Brown, by sometime Sunday night, was back in New York to oversee a number of key workouts Sunday at Saratoga.

The horses, though, are soaking in another day at Arlington. The three winners plus Million fourth-place finisher Robert Bruce, Beverly D. third-place finisher Competitionofideas and fifth-place Thais, and Secertariat sixth Fog of War, were scheduled to ship back to New York on Monday.

“Everyone looks like they’re in good order so far,” Brown said, reached by phone early Sunday afternoon.

Bricks and Mortar, who probably would be Horse of the Year were a vote held today, got a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for his three-quarter-length Million win over Magic Wand, a number right in line with his baseline performance during a perfect five-race 2019 campaign. Brown reiterated Sunday that a decision on when and where Bricks and Mortar’s season will continue “won’t be made for a good three weeks or so,” though Bricks and Mortar will remain in steady training.

Sistercharlie got a 105 Beyer for her three-length win against an overmatched group in the Beverly D., repeating the career-best number she earned last month in the Diana, her first start of 2019. Sistercharlie became the first two-time Beverly D. winner while capturing the race for the second year in a row. In 2018, she kicked the wall of her stall in late summer requiring Brown to train her into the Breeders’ Cup but if all goes well this year, Brown will point Sistercharlie for the Flower Bowl Invitational on Oct. 6 at Belmont.

:: Get PPs, Clocker Reports, picks, and more from DRF's Saratoga/Del Mar One-Stop Shop

Valid Point got a 90 Beyer for his one-length score in the one-mile Secretariat, his stakes debut after maiden and allowance wins earlier this year. Brown said he’d consider Valid Point for major one-mile turf stakes open to older horses, putting a race like the Woodbine Mile on Sept. 14 on the table.

‘When you start running 3-year-olds against older, it takes a special horse to compete at the Grade 1 level, Brown said. “I think we have a special horse.”

Fog of War was the 2-1 Secretariat favorite but had no late kick after tracking the pace. Brown blamed himself for running Fog of War in blinkers for the second time and said he’d remove the equipment for the colt’s next race.

Cafe Americano got a career-best 88 Beyer for her 2 1/4-length win in the 1 1/8-mile Pucker Up, a race in which Cafe Americano rallied from 10th. Cafe Americano was cutting back in distance and dropping down in class from a sixth-place finish in the Belmont Oaks Invitational. Brown and owner Peter Brant don’t yet have specific plans for Cafe Americano’s late summer and fall campaign.

“She’s the kind of filly it can be hard to keep weight on, and she might require a little more time,” Brown said.

All eight European shippers, including five for trainer Aidan O’Brien, traveled back overseas Sunday. Magic Wand, as she had in the Pegasus Turf and the Man o’ War already this year, hit her peak form in another American grass race with a fine runner-up showing behind Bricks and Mortar and she can be expected to return again at least once more in 2019. Magic Wand relishes fast and firm turf, putting the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita in play as a year-end goal.

Plans are open for Million third-place finisher Bandua, who set a solid pace and finished decently in another solid performance. Bandua could stretch out to a longer distance to fully utilize his strong-galloping ability.

“He got run down by maybe a Horse of the Year and a very good filly, so we’re very proud,” said trainer Jack Sisterson. “He doesn’t quite have that turn of foot.”

Awesometank ran one of her better races finishing a clear second in the Beverly D. for England-based trainer William Haggas, while that race’s second choice, the O’Brien-trained Fleeting, finished a closing fourth at a distance short of her best after being taken up into the first turn when Competitionofideas, pushed slightly in by Sistercharlie, drifted into her path.