Tough field lines up against Brown's four in Lake George
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In 2019, trainer Chad Brown ran 1-2-3 in the Lake George Stakes here, a feat less impressive when you consider Brown had the only three runners in the race.
Friday, Brown has four entrants in the Grade 3, $150,000 Lake George at Saratoga and even a win would be considered impressive as the one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies drew a pretty deep field of 10.
“It’s a good edition of the race,” said Brown, who has won four of the last six runnings of the Lake George.
The Irish-bred Minaun may prove the best of the Brown quartet. A Group 3 winner in Ireland last year, Minaun has made two starts for Brown in 2021. She won a six-furlong allowance race in April at Belmont and then was second as the favorite, beaten a half-length by Runaway Rumour in the Wild Applause Stakes going a mile on June 26. In that race, Minaun saved all the ground, but was blocked behind horses and Runaway Rumour got first run.
“She got in a bunch of trouble,” Brown said. “She got a nice inside trip. I’m not complaining how it unfolded, just unlucky. She was trying to get out, just couldn’t get out in time. With a good trip, she could be right there.’
Manny Franco will have to work out a trip from post 10.
Fluffy Socks won the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante going a mile at Del Mar last November. Brown tried stretching her out in distance this year and Fluffy Socks was beaten a head when second in the Memories of Silver at 1 1/16 miles and fifth in the Grade 3 Wonder Again at 1 1/8 miles.
“She ran good last year at Del Mar going a mile. Hopefully there’s some pace in front of her. Seems like that’s what she might want to do,” Brown said. “Going into this year I thought she might actually stretch out effectively and I might have had that wrong.”
Amy C won a first-level allowance in her first start for Brown, overcoming getting squeezed at the start and rallying from behind off a slow pace.
“She should move forward off of that,” Brown said. “She ran real well.”
Technical Analysis is cutting back to a mile after finishing sixth in the Wonder Again. She won a 1 1/16-mile allowance by 2 3/4 lengths at Belmont in April.
“This filly’s looking for a cutback for sure,” Brown said. “She was a little rank and out of position last time. She has a shot to redeem herself at a mile.”
Jouster, trained by Todd Pletcher, is also looking for redemption while cutting back in distance. She set the pace and finished fourth, beaten three lengths by stablemate Con Lima, in the Wonder Again.
“This is her optimal distance,” Pletcher said. “She’s got a high cruising speed that she can sustain up to a mile. She’s got a short kick. She’s got natural speed.”
Demodog also has speed and she has the rail. Demodog, trained by Rodolphe Brisset, is 2 for 2 and is making her stakes debut in this spot. Brisset doesn’t expect his rider, Chris Landeros, and Luis Saez, the rider of Jouster, to get into a speed duel.
“We’re going to let Luis do what he wants to do. We’re not going to kill each other,” Brisset said. “If he’s got the jump on us, we can sit off of him. If he wants to sit off us, that’s fine with us, too.”
Navratilova and Tobys Heart ran one-two in the Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs going a mile on June 26. Navratilova, trained by Rusty Arnold is by Medaglia out of Centre Court, who won this race in 2012 for Arnold and owner-breeder G. Watts Humphrey.
Trainer Brian Lynch felt Tobys Heart got shuffled back out of position at the start of the Tepin and “made a move from the 4 1/2 [furlong maker] that almost got it done,” Lynch said. “Rusty’s filly walked the dog, but we were definitely getting to her late.”
A strong pace would suit Runaway Rumour, who successfully stepped out of New York-bred company to win the Wild Applause, improving her record to 3 for 3. Ricardo Santana Jr. rides from post 2 for Jorge Abreu.
Invincible Gal finished seventh as the favorite in the Tepin after getting beat a neck in the Grade 3 Soaring Softly at Belmont. She did win her career debut at 5-1 here last summer for trainer Graham Motion.