Standard Deviation easily handles turf debut in Tale of the Cat

You will never believe who trains the winner of the $75,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes, contested Saturday at Monmouth Park. Chad Brown, that’s who!

You see, Mr. Brown wins turf stakes ever so rarely. This victory by Standard Deviation was merely his 22nd such victory five months into 2018.

Seriously, sarcastic incredulity is as reasonable response as any to Brown’s ridiculous success in turf stakes races. He had 49 of them last year, 45 in 2017, 47 in 2016 – and three alone on Saturday. Brown already has the multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old Digital Age waiting for the Belmont Derby and Saturday in New York he won the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge with the talented Demarchelier.

Standard Deviation might not prove to be comparable to Digital Age or Demarchelier, but he looked pretty good making his grass debut in the Tale of the Cat. Brown, who trains Standard Deviation for Klaravich Stables, thought enough of the colt at 2 to try him in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity fresh off a debut win and after a third-place finish there he got nothing more than hot and dirty in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Standard Deviation was a decent second to the capable Global Campaign in his 3-year-old debut in February, but if anything took a step back second time out this year in an Aqueduct allowance race.

So, over to turf it was, and Standard Deviation took to the grass like a statistician to a juicy pie chart. Held up fifth of sixth under Antonio Gallardo as Dunph, pressed by Cambre, went 22.84 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.52 to the half, Standard Deviation, moving on the outside, swung into action at about the seven-sixteenths pole and by the time he’d hit the end of the far turn he nearly had made the front. Six furlongs went in 1:10.62, a mile in 1:35.62 and by the time Standard Deviation hit the stretch call he was up 2 1/2 lengths. Empire of War, the 9-5 favorite, got jammed up a bit past the quarter pole and had to wait while the winner was going clear, but even without trouble the result almost certainly wouldn’t have changed. The margin at the wire was two lengths, the winning time 1:41.85 for 1 1/16 miles on firm turf, and Standard Deviation home at an $8.40 win price that in the clear light of hindsight seemed very generous.

Solidify rallied from last to finish third followed by Swamp Rat, Cambre, and Dunph. Chilly in Charge was a trainer scratch while Compound It had been entered main-track only.

Standard Deviation is by Curlin out of False Impression, by A.P. Indy, and he resides in the right barn to continue winning turf stakes races this summer.