Stephanie's Kitten repeats in Flower Bowl for Brown

ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown completed a double of sorts at Belmont Park on Saturday.

Last week, Brown sent out the first- and second-place finishers in the biggest turf race of the Belmont fall meet for males when Big Blue Kitten and Slumber ran one-two. On Saturday, Brown took down the exacta in the filly-and-mare counterpart, the Grade 1 Flower Bowl, with Stephanie's Kitten and Danza Cavallo.

This is the second straight year that Stephanie's Kitten has won the Flower Bowl.

The $500,000 Flower Bowl is a Win and You're In for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 31, and Stephanie's Kitten earned a fees-paid berth in the field. Brown now has two horses scheduled for the Filly and Mare Turf: Stephanie's Kitten, who can perform on any kind of ground, and Dacita, whom he withheld from the Flower Bowl because she prefers firm footing.

The ground was soft for the Flower Bowl.

"Stephanie's Kitten likes as much give in the ground as you can get," Brown said after the race.

Brown could have others for the filly and Mare Turf, too, but said he would need to talk with his owners before making any decisions. Watsdachances, who finished fourth in the Flower Bowl, has a Win and You're In spot in the field for having won the Beverly D. at Arlington Park in August.

Brown finished one-two in the Filly and Mare Turf last year with Dayatthespa and Stephanie's Kitten.

Danza Cavallo went right to the front in the 1 1/4-mile Flower Bowl and appeared a bit keen, but jockey Javier Castellano did a nice job of slowing down the pace. Danza Cavallo set fractions of 26.45 seconds, 52.78, 1:18.10, and 1:42.28.

Stephanie's Kitten, with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, fell into a nice stalking position right behind Danza Cavallo.

"I told Irad that Danza Cavallo would go to the lead, as was our plan, and to lay as close as he wanted if the pace was slow," Brown said.

Stephanie's Kitten lodged her bid outside of Danza Cavallo in upper stretch and pulled away for a 1 1/2-length victory.

The win was the second for Stephanie's Kitten from five starts this season. She won her season opener in the Grade 3 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs in March.

In her start prior to the Flower Bowl, Stephanie's Kitten ran a good race under rainy conditions to finish third in the Beverly D. despite being bothered in deep stretch by the winner, Secret Gesture. Stephanie's Kitten was moved up to second in that race, and Secret Gesture was disqualified to third.

"It's similar to last season, when she rounded into strong form right into the Breeders' Cup," Brown said of Stephanie's Kitten. "Her last two breezes were as good as I've seen her breeze all year."

Brown's fourth runner in the eight-horse Flower Bowl, Regardez, finished sixth.

Stephanie's Kitten paid $6.90 as the second choice. She was timed in 2:06.23, meaning she covered her final quarter in less than 24 seconds following the slow early fractions. The Flower Bowl was switched from the inner turf to the Widener course. The Hill Prince, the only other grass race on the card, was kept on the inner turf.

A 6-year-old daughter of Kitten's Joy owned and bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Stephanie's kitten has won 10 of 24 career starts and just under $3.2 million.

Mutatis Mutandis, the more lightly regarded of two Britain-based horses in the race at 14-1, finished third, 3 1/4 lengths behind Danza Cavallo. Mutatis Mutandis made a bold move along the inner rail into contention on the far turn but was outfinished in the stretch.

Curvy, a 3-year-old Britain shipper, was bet down to 3-2 favoritism but had a rough trip. She broke slowly, raced wide on both turns, and tired to finish fifth.

America also broke slowly.