Brown sends out favorites Elysea's World, Verbouwen

The Thursday feature at Gulfstream Park provides a mere glimpse – but a fitting one – into the dominance that Chad Brown held over his training brethren in 2016.

As the year nears its end, Brown has the top two contenders in Elysea’s World and Verbouwen in a $45,000 allowance that anchors the Thursday program at the south Florida track. There are seven fillies and mares in the feature, a 1 1/8-mile turf race governed by a second-level condition.

Elysea’s World, the runner-up in the Grade 2 Lake George at Saratoga in July, is unraced since finishing sixth in the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont in September.

“She’s a very talented filly, but her last couple of races were a little disappointing,” Brown said from his Palm Meadows training center base. “We decided to freshen her up and let her catch her breath a little. Coming back in an allowance seemed like the logical thing to do.”

Verbouwen closed well to be third in her last start, a Nov. 19 allowance going a mile on the Aqueduct turf.

“She’s shown some flashes of being a really nice filly,” said Brown. “She ran a couple of good races last winter at Gulfstream and might’ve been the best horse in the Boiling Springs at Monmouth in the summer. We’d love to see her take a big step forward here and see if she can’t become the stakes filly we think she can be.”

Elysea’s World, with Joel Rosario to ride, will break from the outside post as a probable heavy favorite, while Verbouwen and jockey Tyler Gaffalione will break from post 3 as the likely second choice. Stay the Night (post 2, Julien Leparoux) and Trigger Finger (post 4, John Velazquez) look like the main threats if neither of the Brown fillies can come through.

First post Thursday is 12:35 p.m. Eastern, with the nominal feature, the eighth of 10 races, set for 4:02 and the last race at 5:02.

Meanwhile, Brown is eagerly anticipating the results of voting that is under way for the 2016 Eclipse Awards. His statistics suggest he might well receive his first Eclipse as outstanding trainer when awards are presented Jan. 21 at Gulfstream: He leads all trainers in North America this year with more than $22.7 million in stable earnings and has the most graded stakes wins (41 through last weekend).

Last year, Brown was one of three finalists for top trainer, but Todd Pletcher was voted the award for a seventh time.

“We’ve had a really great year,” he said. “In the past, it hasn’t worked out, but this year has been another career high for me and my team. I’m just so proud of all the efforts from the horses and employees, and of course the loyalty from the incredible group of clients we’re fortunate to have.

“Whatever happens, we’re just going to keep our heads down and keep working. This is what we all love to do. Anything on top of that would be quite an honor.”