Brown strives for continued success in Memories of Silver

Chad Brown has won four of the first nine runnings of the Memories of Silver Stakes at Aqueduct, including the 2018 edition with Significant Form. Sunday, Brown sends out two of the nine 3-year-old fillies entered for turf in the one-mile race, including Opulent Restraint, the first foal out of Significant Form. Though there are talented runners in the Memories of Silver, Opulent Restraint’s biggest rival may be herself.

In the two times she has not run where she’s been stabled, Opulent Restraint has acted up in the paddock, needlessly wasting energy that would be better served once the gates open. Opulent Restraint overcame that behavior last fall when she shipped from Belmont to Aqueduct to win the Chelsey Flower Stakes. She did not overcome it when she shipped from Payson Park to Tampa Bay Downs and finished fourth, 5 1/4 lengths behind Nitrogen, in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks last month.

“Totally blew up in the paddock,” Brown said. “Not a good shipper. She didn’t ship to Aqueduct good the day she won and got over that. We’re in a tough situation here while Belmont’s being redone to not school the horse, so I’m a little worried about that. But I’m going to try it again because she won over the course.”

Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode Opulent Restraint to her maiden victory last summer at Saratoga, is reunited with the filly Sunday.

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Flavien Prat, who rode Opulent Restraint to victory in the Chelsey Flower, will ride Brown’s other entrant, Virgin Colada. Prat rode Virgin Colada in all four of her starts at 2, including runner-up finishes in the P.G. Johnson at Saratoga and the Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Aqueduct. Virgin Colada finished 13th of 14 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last November.

“Terrible trip, quite disappointing,” Brown said. “I liked her going into that race. Nice reset. We gave her some time off and she’s coming into the race the right way.”

Laurelin went 2 for 2 at Aqueduct last year, including a victory in the Tepin Stakes. She beat Five G that day, and Five G has come back as a better dirt horse, winning the Gulfstream Park Oaks. She’s now a contender for the Kentucky Oaks.

Trainer Graham Motion gave Laurelin time off after the Tepin and instead of taking her to Florida for the winter, he kept her at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland “to give her a chance to grow up,” he said.

Laurelin has eight workouts leading to this, so Motion is not concerned about running a short horse.

Candy Quest and Love Cervere finished second and fifth, respectively, in the Sanibel Island Stakes at Gulfstream on March 29. Candy Quest, ninth of 10 through the opening half-mile of that race, came with a strong late kick that fell a half-length shy of upset winner Spirited Boss.

“She had a bit of a tough trip,” trainer Mark Casse said. “She always shows up and she runs hard. Hard to think she wouldn’t fit in that race.”

Love Cervere raced between horses in that spot and lacked the necessary kick to be effective.

Icona Mama, Italian Soiree, Shesinamood, and Burner Account complete the field on turf. Bernieandtherose is entered to run only if the race is transferred to the main track.

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