The winter of 2025-26 was different for veteran trainer Brian Brown, but as the season is about to change the Ohio-based conditioner still has the same kind of optimism about his stable’s future. “We decided to stay in Ohio this year,” Brown said. “The conditions were different, but we made a few adjustments like heated gloves and things have worked out.” For Brown, with roughly 34-head in his care, change has been a regular part of his operation through the years, and despite a ton of them he’s managed to bring out the best in some of the sport’s most notable pacers in the last decade. Whether he was the front man or the one that developed a star that would go on to greatness elsewhere, Brown has kept a level head about the horse business and persevered. Brown’s stable made a huge splash in 2017 when it had a pair of leading sophomore pacers in Fear The Dragon and Downbytheseaside dominate the action. Both have gone on to become stallions, with the latter a force in Ohio and on the Grand Circuit as well. Brown did a masterful job with both seeing them race complete seasons, with Downbytheseaside concluding his racing career with a lifetime best 1:48 3/5 mark in his last race, the Progress Pace at Dover. “He was just a bully on the racetrack,” Brown said, reflecting on Downbytheseaside’s racing career. “You never know how that’s going to translate to a horse as a stallion, but he’s been phenomenal.” Downbytheseaside’s durability and determination are clearly evident in his offspring as they have consistently dominated the Ohio Sire Stakes since his very first crop hit the track in 2021. That year Pebble Beach instantly stamped him as a Grand Circuit-worthy player and then Bythemissal joined him in 2022 as sophomore stars. Brown broke and trained superstar Confederate through his 2022 racing season that was spectacular in its own right with a string of dominating performances in Kentucky. Though Confederate moved on to trainer Brett Pelling’s stable as a sophomore in 2023 to race predominantly on the East Coast, it shouldn’t diminish the value Brown added to the overall career of the Sweet Lou-sired colt. Training horses and having them move on to other horsemen is an occupational hazard and one where Brown almost always appears to be on the wrong side. However, in 2026 the tide may have shifted for him just slightly as in January owner Ken Jacobs sent a sophomore pacing filly his way with a pedigree that works quite nicely for Brown. “Mr. Ken Jacobs sent me a very nice Downbytheseaside filly,” Brown said. “I’ve only had Prtynproud Hanover since January 15. She’s a big, long-legged filly with a lot of power. She’s staked here in Ohio and we put her in some other stakes like the Fan Hanover and Nadia Lobell.” Prtynproud Hanover last year won the Kindergarten Series final at The Meadowlands in 1:51 1/5, her last freshman start following a mid-season purchase by Jacobs. Brown has been impressed thus far with Prtynproud Hanover, though the training trips haven’t got her close to the level she’ll need to be. “Going slow she doesn’t show that much but when she picks up speed her gait smooths out,” said Brown with conviction that he could have another dynamic horse in his stable by a sire he’s more than familiar with. Prtynproud Hanover will be more than an adequate replacement for a quality 2-year-old filly that Brown broke and trained to success last year named Gala. Gala, also by Downbytheseaside, showed progress in each of her starts for Brown last year and was so impressive that she was eventually sold to Andrew Harris’ connections for a significant sum. Gala took a 1:50 1/5 mark for Brown at The Red Mile and then went on to equal that speed in a Kentucky Sire Stakes final at Cumberland Run for Harris. In 2023 Harris purchased Seven Colors in the middle of his sophomore season from Brown’s stable just as he was coming into form. It’s hard to believe three years later few will remember that Seven Colors and Confederate were developed by Brown. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter With 18 babies in training Brown still has a long way to go before it’s time to race, but said he had a pair of Sweet Lou’s that he likes very much at this juncture. He thinks he’s got a nice Papi Rob Hanover and of course there’s a very nice Downbytheside filly in the mix. If there was one horse Brown was willing to single out for future success it was Pants On Fire, a 4-year-old that has had a limited number of starts but has shown enormous talent. “We only raced him four times last year,” said Brown about Pants On Fire, who is by Catch The Fire, an accomplished son of Captaintreacherous that also stands in Ohio. “He had an issue with his cannon bone. “He was in the North America Cup last year and got interfered at the half in the elimination but still closed to finish fourth. I think if that hadn’t happened, he would have reached the final.” Pants On Fire had won an overnight event in 1:50 at Scioto before his North America Cup excursion. Pants On Fire made his 4-year-old return at Miami Valley on March 10 and breezed to a 1:53 4/5 victory with Hall of Famer David Miller in the bike. “I’m very excited about him going forward,” said Brown of Pants On Fire. “We’ve made him eligible to the Graduate and a few other stakes races, but I don’t plan on racing him that much. We’d like to have him race for a few more years.” Pants On Fire was just a $20,000 yearling purchase at the Ohio Select sale in 2023 from the American Ideal-sired American Myth. Pants On Fire is the dam’s third foal, with her first two by Downbytheseaside. American Myth is a half-sister a pair of high-class fillies in Alicorn and Medusa as well as the dam of Huntinthelastdolar, a $1.1 million winner. With a history of developing superstar horses it would be of no surprise if Brown was spot on again about Pants On Fire and the 4-year-old lights the way for returning Brown and his stable to prominence in 2026.