Weigh the Risks caps three-win day for Brown, Franco in Go for Wand
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The second half of the fall has proven to be much better than the first half for trainer Chad Brown.
Brown said a virus that went through his barns late summer at Saratoga and Belmont severely impacted plans for horses in all divisions, which Brown said limited his participation in some of the bigger races including the Breeders’ Cup.
But over the last 5 1/2 weeks, Brown’s stable has been on a healthy run. On Saturday, at Aqueduct, Brown sent out three winners led by Weigh the Risks, who scored an easy-as-she-pleased 9 3/4-length victory in the $150,000 Go for Wand Stakes for fillies and mares.
The win was the fourth from five starts this year and second straight in a stakes race for Weigh the Risks, a 4-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables.
For Brown, it was the seventh stakes win at Aqueduct since the fall meet began on Nov. 6 and his 10th stakes win overall – he won three stakes at Del Mar – in the last 5 1/2 weeks. For the year, Brown has won 44 stakes second only to Brad Cox.
“When headline horses get it people read about it, when it affects all classes of horses, age, class, gender, whatever categories, you really feel it week to week,” Brown said. “You’re not losing one stakes race, you’re setting campaigns behind. We finally have consistent training with a large group of horses.”
Weigh the Risks has won two stakes in this recent run, the Pumpkin Pie and Go for Wand. In the Go for Wand, Manny Franco put Weigh the Risks on the lead, she raced basically uncontested through a quarter in 23.82 seconds, a half-mile in 47.88 and six furlongs in 1:12.33. She galloped home a mile in 1:37.64 and returned $3.34 to win.
“That was plan A,” Franco said of being on the lead. “She was so comfortable on the lead, her ears [were] pricked, I was confident the way she was traveling.”
Brown said Saturday’s performance may have earned Weigh the Risks a 5-year-old campaign in 2026.
“She’s one that needed to step forward to commit to racing the entire year next year and she took a big step today,” Brown said. “It took her some time.”
Weigh the Risks is now 6 for 13 and she increased her earnings to $451,821.
Franco and Brown teamed up to win a 2-year-old race earlier on the card with Iron Honor ($13.32). In the race immediately following the Go for Wand, Franco and Brown and Klaravich collaborated to win an open allowance with the New York-bred Collect the Data, who won by 7 1/2 lengths.
Not only was that Franco’s third win on the Saturday card, it was Franco’s 200th win of the year on the New York Racing Association circuit.
Franco will finish 2025 as the leading jockey in wins on this circuit for the fourth time since 2018.
“It means a lot, you need a little consistency, that’s how they put you on live horses everyday,” Franco said. “My agent, John Panagot, has been doing a great job. I got to give him a lot of credit. I’m just happy to be leading rider for the year once again.”
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