Breeders' Cup: Most of Brown's team, at two locations, put in workouts
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ELMONT, N.Y. - Five of trainer Chad Brown’s six potential Breeders’ Cup starters put in workouts at two different locations on Saturday.
At Keeneland, on the dirt, Brown’s Distaff contender Fully Subscribed worked a half-mile in 49.81 seconds, while galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.69 and continued out a long way, according to Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch.
Also working Saturday at Keeneland for Brown were Filly and Mare Turf contender Kathynmarissa, who went a half-mile in 50.13 seconds with a strong finish/gallop out of 1:03.96 and 1:16.64, according to Welsch. Zulu Kingdom, possible for the Mile, worked a half-mile in 49.19 seconds while galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.91. That work was originally scheduled for the turf, but turf works - as well as turf racing Saturday afternoon - were canceled.
Brown said the works for Fully Subscribed and Kathynmarissa were more on the maintenance side as they were the first works back coming off wins. Zulu Kingdom, coming off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile, is now likely to run in the Mile, according to Brown.
“We’re leaning towards running him,” Brown said. “He didn’t get a good ride last time rating off a slow pace. I can get [Flavien] Prat back on him. He has run good there, he’s won a Grade 1.”
Brown said he shipped Kathynmarissa from Saratoga to Keeneland earlier than his other New York-based horses because he wanted to give her more time to get over the van trip and get accustomed to her surroundings.
At Belmont Park, on a blustery morning, Brown sent out Juvenile Fillies Turf contender Domestic Agenda for a half-mile move in 48.53 seconds over the main track, which was listed good. Domestic Agenda was on the inside of the 3-year-old filly Counterintuitive, who has one win from four starts. The pair galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.36.
“She’s certainly better on the turf, but she’s an American-bred turf horse, she has a lot of dirt in her pedigree, she can handle the dirt,” Brown said.
Also working was Gaudreau, the Grade 1 Champagne runner-up, who went a half-mile in 47.99 seconds, working on the inside of recent five-length maiden winner Card Man. Gaudreau got his final quarter in 23.39 seconds and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.05.
Brown said he wanted to talk to the owners of Gaudreau before committing that horse to the Juvenile, but he was pleased with what he saw yesterday. Gaudreau finished a well-beaten second to U. S. S. Valor in the Champagne while racing on the pace. Brown feels the horse is probably better with a target and hopes, should he run him in the Juvenile, there will be speed to run at.
“I don’t think there was any other choice... to give him the best chance to win in that race was to go to the lead,” Brown said about the Champagne. “He was there, the fractions were very fair, he didn’t go too fast, he just was second-best. That said, it’d be nice to see him with a target to see if he can be a little more competitive.”
Brown's sixth Breeders' Cup starter, Ways and Means, worked a half-mile on Thursday in 48.36 seconds in Saratoga, and continues to thrive at the upstate New York track, Brown said.
In non-Breeders’ Cup news, Brown said Nevada, impressive debut winner of a one-mile maiden race here on Friday, would be pointed to the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen on Dec. 5.
In his debut, Nevada hit the side of the gate and then was carried out by the horse directly to his inside. Jockey Flavien Prat was able to guide Nevada over the two or three path down the backside before tipping him out wider than that for the stretch drive. With a couple of cracks of Prat’s left-handed whip, Nevada drew clear of D.C.’s Boys to win by two lengths. He earned a 75 Beyer Speed Figure
“He lost position, but he was allowed to be alone the first half of the race with nobody right in front of him or behind him,” Brown said. “He was sort of alone back there trying to get organized and jumped over some dirt early and stuff like that. Once he put his head down and leveled off, he had room to move out.”
Brown said early reports from those who were working with Nevada said it appeared the horse had talent. Brown said Nevada developed shins during the early summer at Saratoga that forced him to wait until mid-October to race him.
“It was almost a blessing, because I didn’t want to sprint him anyway,” Brown said.
Nevada is owned by a partnership that includes Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Peter Brant and Brook Smith, the same group that owned champion Sierra Leone.
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