Daddy is a Legend faces Brown duo, full field in Valley View

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Daddy Is a Legend may have dodged Rushing Fall last weekend, but there’s just no avoiding Chad Brown.

Scratched last Saturday at Keeneland from the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, which Brown won with the odds-on Rushing Fall, Daddy Is a Legend was saved instead to run here Friday in the Grade 3 Valley View, ostensibly an easier spot – right?

Well, we’ll see. Daddy Is a Legend has been pegged a lukewarm 7-2 favorite in an oversubscribed field of 3-year-old turf fillies in the 28th running of the $150,000 Valley View, a 1 1/16-mile race that anchors a 10-race Friday card. Brown has the uncoupled pair of Reversethedecision and Mighty Scarlett entered in the Valley View, one of a dwindling number of grass stakes to escape his grasp since he began building his powerhouse stable 11 years ago.

Trained by George Weaver for Susan and Jim Hill, Daddy Is a Legend will break from post 3 under Manny Franco. From nine career starts, the Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Scat Daddy has racked up three wins, but four of her defeats came when finishing behind Rushing Fall, a divisional standout.

“I just didn’t want to run into Rushing Fall again,” Weaver said regarding the QE II scratch. “Hopefully, this will prove the right move.”

The Brown fillies also come well drawn toward the Keeneland hedge. Reversethedecision, also by Scat Daddy, was assigned post 1 and will be ridden by Javier Castellano, who won the QE II on Rushing Fall and entered this week just five wins shy of the 5,000-win milestone. Reversethedecision has never run poorly in five career starts and most recently dead-heated for fourth in the Grade 2 Sands Point on Sept. 15 over the Belmont Park turf.

Yet one more daughter of the late Scat Daddy, Mighty Scarlett (post 4, Jose Ortiz) comes off a turf allowance win on closing weekend of the Saratoga meet. Before that, she ran creditably in back-to-back Belmont stakes when third in the Grade 3 Wonder Again and fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks.

Perhaps the chief threat to the Scat Daddy fillies is Poetic Charm (post 13, Mike Smith), a Godolphin homebred whose European form makes her the major unknown factor in the field. Trained by Charlie Appleby, the daughter of the prolific sire Dubawi has won 4 of 8 starts, with three of her losses coming in respectable fashion in Group 3 company. She will be treated with Lasix for the first time when making her stateside debut.

Other viable possibilities in an outstanding lineup include Cool Beans, Colonia, Goodthingstaketime, Sirenusa, and Chipolata. In all, 15 are entered, with as many as 14 being allowed to start.

First post Friday is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Valley View (race 9) set for 5:30. The Valley View is part of a late pick four (races 7-10) with a $200,000 pool guarantee. The forecast calls for cloudy skies and a high of 61.