Favorable Outcome outlasts Three Rules in Swale

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Chad Brown wasn’t quite sure Favorable Outcome, coming off a 3-month layoff, was 100 percent in Saturday’s Grade 2 Swale. But even at less than 100 percent, Favorable Outcome was still good enough, rallying under confident handling by Javier Castellano to a three-quarter-length victory over 4-5 favorite Three Rules in the seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.

Favorable Outcome, a son of Flatter, had not started since finishing 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, and had only five published works under his belt at Palm Meadows coming into the Swale. But what he may have lacked in conditioning, Favorable Outcome more than made up for with pure talent.

Rating near the rear of the pack off the early pace set by Derek’s Smile, Favorable Outcome advanced four wide with his bid into the stretch, engaged Three Rules near midstretch and was edging clear at the end. Three Rules, who suffered his first setback in six starts at Gulfstream Park, ran well in defeat, finishing nearly three lengths clear of the tiring Sonic Mule for second. It was also his first start since Breeders’ Cup day.

Favorable Outcome, who is owned by the partnership of Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, completed the distance in 1:23.03 over a fast track and paid $31.00.

“I just freshened him up after the Breeders’ Cup and really didn’t have a plan until a month ago, other than to keep him sprinting on dirt,” Brown said. “Three weeks ago, I realized he was much fitter than I thought and, after looking at this race, I figured let’s run him in here and if he wins, not being 100 percent fit, that would be great. If not, it’s something we could build on. At the sixteenth pole, I thought he might show the shortage of works, but he showed a lot of heart there. He’s a very nice horse.”

Brown emphasized that Favorable Outcome will not be considered for the Triple Crown.

“We never even nominated him for the Triple Crown,” Brown said. “He ran terrific, he should get something out of it, and while we’ve got nothing circled for his next start, he’ll run from six to seven furlongs all year. There are a lot of good races for 3-year-olds in that category.”