Winning fifth Hollywood Derby a milestone close to Brown's heart
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DEL MAR, Calif. - The late Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham needed 22 years to win four runnings of the Hollywood Derby at Hollywood Park from 1967 to 1989.
Chad Brown won a record fifth running of the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Saturday with the lightly raced Salamis. All of Brown’s Hollywood Derby wins have been at Del Mar, beginning with Annals of Time in 2016. Del Mar began running the Hollywood Derby in 2014 after Hollywood Park closed in 2013.
The milestone of winning a fifth Hollywood Derby over the weekend was not lost on Brown.
“I’m sincerely humbled to be in the same sentence as Charlie Whittingham,” Brown said on Sunday morning. “To hold that record means a lot to me.”
Whittingham won the Hollywood Derby with Tumble Wind in 1967 and Tell in 1969, when the race was run in early summer on dirt. He won the race on turf with Thrill Show in 1986 and Live the Dream in 1989.
Well before he began training in 2007, Brown, 46, worked at Hollywood Park for trainer Bobby Frankel, who won three runnings of the Hollywood Derby from 1991 to 2001. Frankel, another member of the Hall of Fame, died in 2009.
“Any race with Hollywood in its name is close to my heart,” Brown said.
“For me, Frankel and Whittingham stand out as the best two to do what they did, my profession. I had a great mentor with Frankel.”
Salamis is owned by Juddmonte Farms, who won the 2013 Hollywood Derby with Seek Again, who was trained by John Gosden of England. The race was run a month before the track’s closure.
Salamis, a colt by Speightstown, was bred by Juddmonte and is out of Antonoe, who won the Grade 1 Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park in 2017 for Brown.
“It’s extra special for having trained the dam,” Brown said.
“This mare is a young mare off to a terrific start, which is no surprise considering the strong team at Juddmonte that raises generations of talented and sound horses. It’s an extraordinary team.”
Brown’s success at Del Mar over the weekend was not limited to Saturday’s action. On Sunday, he won the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes with Segesta, a half-sister to Salamis.
Brown has won the Matriarch seven times, and five times this decade. The Brown-trained Gina Romantica finished second in 2024, losing by a neck to Sacred Wish trained by George Weaver. Frankel leads the all-time standings with eight wins in the Matriarch.
Segesta has won 4 of 11 starts and earned $1,190,275.
Salamis has won 3 of 7 starts and earned $353,363. The colt won a maiden race at a mile on turf in his fourth start at Saratoga in August, and won his stakes debut in the Gio Ponti Stakes at a mile on turf at Aqueduct on Sept. 28.
Salamis was fifth of 12 in the Grade 3 Bryan Station Stakes after a wide trip at a mile on turf at Keeneland on Oct. 25 before his victory in the $301,500 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Saturday.
Salamis, the 3-1 second choice, closed from sixth of eight to edge stretch leader Tom’s Magic by a neck. Test Score, the 4-5 favorite, raced in traffic in early stretch and finished third, beaten a half-length.
In 2026, Salamis is likely to race primarily at a mile.
“I don’t know how far I want to stretch him out,” Brown said.
In the short term, Salamis will do little after a forthcoming trip to Juddmonte Farms in Kentucky.
“We’ll give him a chance to have a breather at the farm,” Brown said.
Brown mentioned Grade 1 races such as the Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland in the spring, the Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga in the summer, and the Coolmore Mile at Keeneland in the fall as potential goals with Salamis.
“All of those are possibilities,” he said.
Brown had two stakes wins at Del Mar on Saturday, including the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies with the improving Just Aloof.
Owned by Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm, Just Aloof was always near the front in the $103,000 Durante and pulled clear to win by 2 1/2 lengths as the 3-1 favorite.
Just Aloof and Salamis gave Brown a stakes double at Del Mar for the fourth time.
Just Aloof scored a sharp win in a maiden race at Aqueduct on Oct. 16 that led to the trip to California.
“I’m so proud of her,” Brown said. “For a horse that has run one time to handle all of that, it was really professional.
“This filly has been rock-solid since they sent her to me.”
Just Aloof was ridden by Hector Berrios, while Umberto Rispoli rode Salamis. On many occasions, Brown has had a New York-based rider aboard his runners at Del Mar.
“I thought it was cool that I used two local jockeys,” Brown said. “I was happy with them that they had success on our horses.”
Getting the runners to Del Mar, and the winner’s circle, was much easier than what will be required to get them back to Kentucky and the East Coast.
Typically, the horses would be flown home, but the shipping company Federal Express announced last week that there will no equine transport until early January.
Brown, and other trainers who sent runners to California for weekend stakes, will have their horses vanned to points east.
“We’re working out the logistics,” Brown said. “The vanning company, they’re all over it. It will be safe and adequate transportation. It’s not ideal, but certainly nothing detrimental.”
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Gina Romantica finished second in 2025 Matriarch Stakes. She was second in the 2024 running.
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