Brown marshals the troops in Molly Pitcher, Monmouth Cup

OCEANPORT, N.J. – To say that Chad Brown has a powerful hand at Monmouth Park on Saturday would be a gross understatement. Not only does the four-time Eclipse Award winner send out unbeaten Jack Christopher in the Haskell, but he entered eight strong contenders in the four other graded stakes.

Brown will have the favorite in the Grade 3, $400,000 Molly Pitcher for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles. Search Results, an excellent third in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont on June 11, races around two turns for the first time since a close second to Malathaat in last year’s Kentucky Oaks.

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Winner of the Grade 1 Acorn last spring at Belmont, Search Results ran a gutsy race in the Phipps. She battled champion and odds-on favorite Letruska through zippy fractions, put that foe away turning for home, and gamely held third behind Grade 1 winners Clairiere and Malathaat.

Search Results earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure in the Phipps and gets Lasix for the first time on Saturday.

“I think she was the best horse in the Phipps,” Brown said Thursday morning. “In no way did I want to tackle Letruska. If we had laid off her in second and reserved her there in front of the closers, I think she might have won.”

Brown hopes that Flavien Prat will have Search Results “a little bit more settled and not be in such a hurry with her.”

Brown chose the Molly Pitcher for Search Results instead of Sunday’s Grade 2 Shuvee at Saratoga.

“Double the money and 1 1/16 miles is better for her,” Brown explained.

She is not the only quality filly in the Matchmaker.

Bonny South is winless since last year’s Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland but has since placed in three Grade 1 events. Fourth in the Phipps, the millionaire receives Lasix for her third start of the form cycle and poses a stretch threat from off the pace.

Army Wife is a multiple graded winner who placed in a pair of Grade 1 races last year for trainer Michael Maker. Army Wife prepped for the Molly Pitcher with a victory in Thistledown’s Lady Jacqueline on June 25.

Pennybaker, a Medaglia d’Oro filly out of a full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Frosted, made a pleasing North American debut when romping by 6 3/4 lengths in the Heavenly Cause at Laurel Park on April 16. Pennybaker then cut back to seven furlongs and was sixth, beaten 9 1/4 lengths by Lady Rocket, in the Grade 3 Chicago at Churchill Downs on June 25.

“It was the first time she had dirt kicked in her face and getting outrun early, and she obviously didn’t handle it well,” said trainer Michael Stidham.

Stidham noted there appears to be some speed in the Molly Pitcher and that Pennybaker “should be in a stalking spot.”

Leader of the Band and Beth’s Dream were heads apart in the local prep for the Molly Pitcher, the Lady’s Secret on June 11. Contested over sloppy going, Leader of the Band overcame a slow start to run down favored Beth’s Dream, who might have moved a bit too soon to the front on the second turn.

Shalimar Gardens, an open-lengths winner against New York-breds at Belmont on June 2, completes the field.

Monmouth Cup

Brown will send out two heavy hitters in the Grade 3, $400,000 Monmouth Cup for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles in Pipeline and Highly Motivated.

Pipeline, third in last year’s Perryville at Keeneland before finishing last of eight in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, earned a 104 Beyer when romping against first-level allowance runners in his seasonal debut at Aqueduct on April 22.

“He showed a lot of ability last year,” Brown said. “It might have been a little bit of too much, too soon, to put him in the Cigar. He’s come back very strong and very focused.”

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Brown said Pipeline’s three-month layoff was by design and that the Speightstown colt has been “training fabulous.”

Highly Motivated, second in the 2021 Blue Grass at the Monmouth Cup distance behind eventual classic winner Essential Quality, gutted out a second-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming option at Belmont on May 28. That race was Highly Motivated’s second start since a 10th-place finish in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

“It took him a race to get the rust off,” Brown said. “We’re hoping to see another effort like we saw last year in the Blue Grass.”

The Brown duo will square off against Grade 3 winner Informative; King of Dreams, the winner of Gulfstream’s Showing Up over Tapeta on Nov. 6; Antigravity, fourth in last year’s Haskell and racing as a gelding for the first time; recent Monmouth winner Top Gun Tommy; and Rough Sea, upset winner of the Native Dancer at Laurel on April 23, who enters the Monmouth Cup following a local 96 Beyer score.