Offering Plan unleashes strong rally to win English Channel

What could Chad Brown do for you in Sunday’s English Channel Stakes?

For chalk players, not so much as March was a non-threatening fourth as the favorite in his turf debut. But more adventurous bettors made a score when the Brown-trained Offering Plan rallied from next to last to win the $100,000 stakes going away under Javier Castellano.

The lone New York-bred in the field of eight 3-year-olds, Offering Plan ($21.20) was lightly regarded after finishing last of five against similar open company at Saratoga. However, he received a better setup when a contested pace developed between High Noon Rider and Nonna’s Boy, who rolled through early fractions of 23.22 seconds, 46.33, and 1:09.67.

Offering Plan settled well off the leaders in seventh to the far turn, swung widest into the stretch, and blew past the field to win decisively over Team Colors, who rallied from last to finish clearly second-best over A Lot. The order of finish was completed by March, Vision Perfect, High Noon Rider, Gallery, and Nonna’s Boy.

“I thought there was a lot of speed in the race, and I had a good post [on the rail],” said Castellano. “I saved all the ground in the first part of the race and whipped him outside to get the jump and find the last kick. The fractions were decent fractions, and they went pretty good. It was a good setup for my horse to come from behind.”

Offering Plan, a 3-year-old colt by Spring At Last, ran one mile in 1:32.68 on a firm Widener turf course that received some morning showers and improved to 3-0-1 from six lifetime starts.

“We gave him a lengthy vacation [after last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf], just for minor stuff, and we gave him extra time because we really liked the horse,” said Brown, who won three races on the card to expand his lead atop the standings. “It was a perfect setup, fast pace. Javier saved all the ground early and swung him out. The horse finished well.”

Brown said he thought March ran well, despite racing in some traffic through the lane.