Uni, Sistercharlie top star-filled Brown work contingent

ELMONT, N.Y. – Twenty horses worked over the Belmont turf course during a little more than a half-hour span Sunday morning. Half of that group came from the barn of trainer Chad Brown, three of whom are expected to compete in graded stakes here Saturday, including Uni, who is slated to make her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile in the Grade 1 Just a Game.

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Uni worked in a star-studded pairing alongside champion Sistercharlie, with little separating the duo after they breezed an easy five furlongs around the wide dogs. They got their final quarter in 23.14 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form.

“I thought they both worked great,” Brown said. “We’re playing a little bit of catch-up with Uni. She was training fine in Florida, had gotten in a few works, then popped a splint, which I had to freeze fire and cool out. She’s trained great since she’s come back, although we’re up against it to make the Just a Game. I thought this was her best work back. She worked with another champion this morning and more than hung around with her, so everything should be fine. This will probably be her toughest race of the year, the first off the layoff. She’s maybe a work or two shorter than I normally would have prepared her, but she’s done enough – she’s sharp enough – to give it a go.”

Brown, who could have as many as four starters in the one-mile Just a Game, also sent out Fools Gold and My Sister Nat to work five furlongs in separate sets Sunday with an eye toward Saturday’s Grade 2 New York Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for fillies and mares. Neither horse has started this season. Fools Gold has been idle since a fourth-place finish in the Zagora Stakes on Nov. 3, and My Sister Nat has been sidelined since missing by a neck in the Grade 3 Long Island on Nov. 30.

“It’s not ideal to run these horses off the layoff going a mile and one-quarter, but 2020 is a weird year and it has forced us to do things we normally wouldn’t do,” Brown said. “Normally, my approach is a little more strategic, using certain races to get to certain races. But now I’m sort of inclined to take a shot with horses that are doing well because it’s become kind of a half-season we’re dealing with as a result of the pandemic.”

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Among Brown’s other notable turf workers Sunday were Raging Bull and Without Parole, who breezed five furlongs under a strong hold in company in 1:01.05, with both pointing to Keeneland’s Maker’s Mark Mile, and Fifty Five, who he said is “back on track” after missing the Beaugay due to a wrenched ankle. Brown also noted that he is considering prepping Sistercharlie in either the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland or the Ballston Spa at Saratoga for her primary goal this summer, a third straight victory in the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga.

Earlier Sunday, Brown sent out Dunbar Road to work what he described as an “amazing” five furlongs in 1:00.79 over the main track as a prep for the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 11.