Newspaperofrecord gives Brown fourth straight win in Just a Game

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown continued his recent dominance of the $250,000 Just a Game, winning the Grade 1 test for older fillies and mares for the fourth consecutive year, with Newspaperofrecord going wire to wire to defeat Beau Recall by three lengths on a showery Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park.

The Brown-trained Uni finished a half-length farther back in third while making her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile nearly eight months earlier.

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Newspaperofrecord and Uni both went off at even-money, with Newspaperofrecord a slight favorite.

Newspaperofrecord gave jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. his fifth victory on the card and second graded stakes win in succession, following his win on Firenze Fire 30 minutes earlier in the Grade 2 True North.

Returning on relatively short rest off an easy win in the seven-furlong Intercontinental just three weeks earlier, Newspaperofrecord broke alertly and set a more leisurely pace in the one-mile Just a Game, posting early splits of 23.79 and 48.13 over a course still rated firm despite taking heavy rain on several occasions during the card. Ortiz was able to give Newspaperofrecord a little breather around the turn, and she had plenty left when called upon from the top of the stretch to the wire.

Beau Recall angled out while advancing on the final turn, finishing willingly near the middle of the course to best Uni for second. Uni, with only one loss in her last eight starts dating back to April of 2018, was reserved early under Joel Rosario, moved to closer contention near the inside after six furlongs, but was unable to sustain the bid.

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Newspaperofrecord covered one mile in 1:35.62 and paid $4.20.

“We trained her a little light between the two races,” said Brown. “Irad was confident she’d rate a little better today, and the showers didn’t hurt her chances at all. She loves a little juice in the ground, as they say. She’s never looked better and she’s been training so comfortably in the morning. This was a really, really good effort coming back in three weeks. I’m really proud of her.”

As for Uni, Brown had said going into the race that she might be a work or two shy of her best effort in the Just a Game.

“Uni has had a few bumps along the way,” Brown said. “She needed some time off after her last start, then popped a splint and missed a couple of works. And although she’s run okay with a little give in the ground, her best races are really on firm ground as we saw last year, especially at Santa Anita. Joel came back and said she was out of sorts a little bit having to move early into a moderate pace, and she really struggled with the ground. It was pretty wet down inside where she was. Joel thought she’d get a lot out of this race and I agree with him.”