Next romps in Brooklyn Stakes with blazing final furlong

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There are not many horses who, at the end of a 1 3/8-mile dirt race, can run a final furlong in less than 12 seconds. Next can and on Friday he did, which is why he was a dominant 9 1/4-length winner of the Grade 2, $200,000 Brooklyn Stakes at Aqueduct.

It was another in an ever-growing list of dominant performances in marathon races for Next, who won his fifth straight race, and seventh of eight since being stretched out to marathon distance races in fall 2022. The 9 1/4-length margin of victory was his smallest since he won last year’s Brooklyn, a 1 1/2-mile race held at Belmont Park, by 2 1/4 lengths. His previous wins came by 11 3/4 lengths, 25 lengths, and 11 1/4 lengths.

“I always say I don’t know how the horse can do any better than he has, and he continues to come out and put on performances like that,” trainer Doug Cowans said. “He just loves this; [we’ll] try to keep doing this four or five times a year. He’s fun to be around and he’s fun to watch do this.”

Next, a 6-year-old gelding by Not This Time, just gallops along until jockey Luan Machado says it’s time to go. Friday, he sat within three-quarters of a length of pacesetting Drake’s Passage through a mile in 1:37.89. Next went for the lead at the five-sixteenths, came to the eighth pole with a 4 1/2-length lead, and then sprinted home a final eighth in 11.89 seconds. He covered the 1 3/8 miles in 2:13.68 and returned $2.90 as the odds-on choice.

“We don’t make [a] plan on where we want to position the horse, it’s get him out of the gate, get him in his rhythm, once he’s in his rhythm then let him do his thing,” Cowans said. “Once he gets in that rhythm he just does his thing, he starts clicking off pace that others can’t keep up with.”

Added Machado: “When they feel like everybody starts to slow down, that’s when I check on him and he responds that way. He’s just unbelievable.”

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Crupi rallied from well back to get second by a half-length over Drake’s Passage. Masqueparade, Dai Vernon, Spencer’s Boy Luna, and Lure Him In completed the order of finish.

Cowans and owner Michael Foster have maintained that they will keep Next running at these marathon distances and not look to shorten him up to 1 1/4 miles in a race like the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I’m happy doing what he’s doing, I’m not going to be greedy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime horse for me,” Cowans said. “Just keep doing what I’m doing and hope he’s around another year or two and keep on doing it.

“The problem is the pace is going to change when you start shortening things down,” Cowans added. “I worry about that with the horse because early on he likes to be up close. He has some natural speed and he likes to get into a rhythm. . . . I don’t know about putting him in a race with a 46-[second] half.”

Next will return to Cowans’s base at Turfway Park to train and then ship to Saratoga for the $150,000 Birdstone at 1 3/4 miles on Aug. 4.

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