OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Turf season begins Saturday in New York with three races scheduled for the grass at Aqueduct, highlighted by the $150,000 Danger’s Hour Stakes and bettors find themselves in a similar dilemma, trying to decipher which Chad Brown-trained runner to back. Brown has three of the eight runners entered to run on turf in the one-mile race for older males. While Equitize may be the least accomplished of the trio – that also includes Spirit of St Louis and Masen – he might turn out to be the best of the lot. Equitize, a 4-year-old son of Kingman owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, has only raced three times in his career. He won a maiden race at Tampa in March of 2023 and didn’t run again until last November, when he finished seventh in the Grade 2 Hill Prince at Aqueduct. He made a successful 4-year-old debut at Tampa on Feb. 3, winning a first-level allowance by 3 1/2 lengths, setting a course record of 1:32.91 for one mile. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “I don’t know what that means; it means at least he ran fast,” Brown said. “He’s a very well-bred horse, he’s a good-looking horse. Mr. Klarman gave plenty for him as a yearling” – over $600,000 at a 2021 Tattersalls sale – “and I do think this horse has a ton of potential.” Brown thought enough of Equitize to enter him in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland on April 12, but scratched him when the race came up too tough. Though Brown said Equitize looks and trains like a horse who wants to run longer, he believes, for now, the horse is best suited for a mile where he should get a fast early pace. “He’s better off with some pace in front of him,” Brown said. Javier Castellano rides Equitize from post 5. Spirit of St Louis, a New York-bred gelding by Medaglia d’Oro, steps into open company for the first time in the Danger’s Hour for his 5-year-old debut. He won two statebred stakes over this course last year and is 4 for 5 on turf. Brown thinks Spirit of St Louis might be better going longer. “It seems to be a good starting point,” Brown said. Manny Franco, who has won the Danger’s Hour four times, rides Spirit of St Louis from post 3. Masen came to Brown late in 2021 and he made his first start for him in the 2022 Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile, where he was beaten a nose. After two stakes wins, Masen has gone winless in five starts. He most recently finished fourth as the favorite in a second-level allowance at Gulfstream in January. Brown said the horse can be difficult for the jockeys to manage in the afternoon, something he doesn’t show in the morning. “With him, it’s if he can handle the ground, whatever condition it’s in and if he can be cooperative with the rider,” Brown said. “He has all the potential in the world.” Trevor McCarthy rides Masen from the rail. Tidal Forces, claimed for $10,000 by Fernando Abreu in January, comes off a third-place finish, beaten a neck, in the Appleton Stakes at Gulfstream on March 30. Heaven Street, cross-entered in the Henry S. Clark Stakes at Laurel; Pioneering Spirit, the Bernard Baruch winner at Saratoga last summer; Dakota Gold, a multiple stakes winner; and Bring Me a Check complete the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.