Brown uses same formula, repeats in Awad with Valuation Metric

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – For the second consecutive year, trainer Chad Brown won the Awad Stakes with a maiden.

Valuation Metric, who had lost his first two starts, rallied five wide under Flavien Prat and outfinished a rail-charging Tiz Dashing to win the $150,000 Awad by a head at Aqueduct. It was a length back to Concord Green in third.

Aviator Gui finished fourth followed by McDiesel, Surfside Moon, Flamingproposition, and Fully Authorized.

Brown liked Valuation Metric’s second start, where he was beaten a head by Barricade, to start the horse in the Awad against seven other horses who were maiden winners. Brown did the same thing last year with Move To Gold who, like Valuation Metric, was owned by Seth Klarman.

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Under Prat, Valuation Metric actually broke on top but was quickly passed by a quartet of horses going into the first turn. Valuation Metric raced in fifth position early then was sixth in between horses in what became a compact field down the backside.

Prat had to rally Valuation Metric six wide around the turn while John Velazquez, aboard Tiz Dashing was seeking and finding room along the inside. Straightened away for home, and with Concord Green right off his flank on the outside Valuation Metric kicked hard to get the victory.

“I liked the horse enough to treat the last narrow defeat as a win and go ahead and run him in this race,” Brown said. “I did this last year with another Klaravich maiden that I thought ran a winning race, I treated it as a win. But to run down horses like he did today, I hadn’t seen that dimension from him in the morning so I’m quite pleased.”

Prat said when the other horses went for the lead he couldn’t keep up and just kept his horse relaxed and moving at his own pace.

“Down the backside they slowed it down quite a bit and everybody was on top of each other,” Prat said. “Luckily, the race developed around the far turn and once he felt that horse on the outside of him he made a good run.”

Valuation Metric, a son of Munnings, covered the 1 1/16 miles over firm ground in 1:43.71 and returned $7.70 as the second choice.

Velazquez, who had a ground saving trip aboard Tiz Dashing, said his horse hesitated ever so slightly before rallying the rail in the stretch.

“It took him a half-step to go through, but once he went through, he went, just not quick enough,” Velazquez said.

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