Brown stable peaking at perfect time – for Breeders' Cup
At the beginning of September, when shipping agents were starting the process of planning flights from the East Coast to California for the Breeders’ Cup, trainer Chad Brown told them to save him six or eight spots on the flight.
“It’ll probably be more like six,” Brown recalled saying.
Between Sept. 25 and Oct. 17, Brown won 23 races, 11 of which were stakes – nine graded – and sent out a couple of impressive maiden winners.
Monday, when post positions were drawn for the 14 Breeders’ Cup races to be run Friday and Saturday at Del Mar, Brown entered 13 horses in seven races. Provided they all start, the 13 runners match a personal high for a Breeders’ Cup for Brown, who went winless with 13 starters last year at Keeneland and 2 for 13 in 2017 at Del Mar.
“Things can turn around quickly in this game,” Brown said. “Fortunately, we have a deep, talented pool of horses to keep working with and developing trying to get to championship weekend, and it all came around for us these last six weeks. It’s a nice group to bring out there. They’re tough, tough races. Hopefully we get some racing luck.”
Brown ranks third in Breeders’ Cup wins with 15 and fifth in purse-money won with $20.08 million. His 104 starters are sixth most.
“When I have the horses that are good enough – and we have in recent years – my participation is strong,” Brown said. “I think it’s important for the industry to participate when you have horses that are good enough.”
On Friday’s card, Brown will have Jack Christopher, the strong favorite, in the $2 million Juvenile; Haughty and Consumer Spending in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf; and Portfolio Company in the $1 million Juvenile Turf. Brown had pre-entered Verbal in the Juvenile Turf, but did not ship that horse since he was three deep on the preference list.
Saturday, Brown will send out the troika of Domestic Spending, Tribhuvan, and Rockemperor in the $4 million Turf; Blowout and Raging Bull in the $2 million Mile; My Sister Nat and Pocket Square in the $2 million Filly and Mare Turf; and Royal Flag and Dunbar Road in the $2 million Distaff.
In 2017, the last time the Breeders’ Cup was held at Del Mar, Brown won the Juvenile with Good Magic, who was a maiden after runner-up finishes in a maiden race and Champagne. This year, Jack Christopher won a maiden race at Saratoga and dominated the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont.
“He’s a very smart horse to go along with his blazing speed,” Brown said. “His intelligence and his focus when he works or runs are his biggest assets.”
Portfolio Company won his maiden at Saratoga in his second start and then came back to run a strong second to Annapolis in the Grade 2 Pilgrim. Annapolis was the early favorite for the Juvenile Turf, but has been sidelined due to a hind ankle injury.
“I think he’s going to like the slight cutback to a mile and I think he’s much better on firm turf,” Brown said of Portfolio Company.
Brown has won the Juvenile Fillies Turf five times. Haughty won a maiden race at Keeneland on Oct. 17, a month after she was disqualified from a maiden win at Belmont Park. Brown thinks highly enough of Haughty to run her back in 20 days.
“She’s very talented, she’s precocious, she’s got a great turn of foot,” Brown said.
Consumer Spending won a maiden race in her second start and came back to win the Selima Stakes at Laurel by 2 1/4 lengths over firm ground.
“She’s better on firm turf,” Brown said
In 2019, Brown won the Breeders’ Cup Turf with Bricks and Mortar, who was coming off an 84-day layoff and hadn’t previously attempted the 1 1/2-mile distance of the race. Bricks and Mortar won. Saturday, Domestic Spending, a two-time Grade 1 winner this year, will attempt 1 1/2 miles for the first time off an 84-day layoff. He was beaten a head in the Mr. D. Stakes, formerly the Arlington Million, on Aug. 14.
“The way he settles and switches off, that’s the key,” Brown said of Domestic Spending’s chance to get 1 1/2 miles. “If he gets away from the gate cleanly and has a good post and gets some sort of position early and if he gets any sort of seam in the final turn of that race I think he’s going to be heard from.”
Brown will also run Tribhuvan and Rockemperor in the Turf. Tribhuvan is a speed horse whose chances could depend on how much other speed there is in the field. Rockemperor is coming off a victory in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch, his best race to date.
Brown has won four runnings of the Filly and Mare Turf. Saturday, he will send out My Sister Nat, a half-sister to 2018 Filly and Mare Turf winner Sistercharlie, and Pocket Square. Both fillies are coming off a Grade 3 stakes victoryat Belmont Park.
“They seem like they don’t have quite the résumé as the other horses in there at the Grade 1 level, but they’re training well. It’s the Breeders’ Cup, anything can happen,” Brown said. “I feel like they deserve a shot and could get a piece if things go their way. It’s the most challenging race we’re in, I think, based on what we have and what we have to run against.”
In the Mile, Brown will send out the 5-year-old mare Blowout and the 6-year-old horse Raging Bull, both owned by Peter Brant. Brown won the 2019 Mile with the mare Uni. Blowout is coming off a victory in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland on Oct. 9. She got beat a nose in last year’s Grade 1 Matriarch at Del Mar.
Brown said Brant was keen on running Blowout here as opposed to the Matriarch in part because Blowout earned a fees-paid trip to the Breeders’ Cup and he has Regal Glory to run in the Matriarch
“He said he’d rather take the free roll, so to speak, with the entry fee for this kind of race on a turf course we believe she really likes, and take a shot,” Brown said
Raging Bull won the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in his lone start at Del Mar. He is a three-time Grade 1 winner who most recently finished third in the Woodbine Mile over “good” ground.
Royal Flag and Dunbar Road have both been competitive with Letruska, the expected heavy favorite in the Distaff. Royal Flag was beaten a half-length by her in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign and came back to dominate the Grade 2 Beldame by 4 1/4 lengths. Dunbar Road, third in last year’s Distaff, finished second, beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Letruska in the Spinster after having finished three-quarters of a length behind her in the Personal Ensign.
“They’re not that far away,” Brown said. “I have all the respect in the world for Letruska – win or lose this race I agree with a lot of things I’ve read in the media she’s the champion dirt mare of the year given her consistency, and her trainer’s managed her beautifully,” Brown said. “But this particular race is deep and she will be challenged at some point. We’ll just see how it ends up near the wire.”