Leading trainer Chad Brown moves forward after tough Travers Day
NYRA SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The leading trainer at Saratoga Race Course sent out 12 runners on Travers Day, and came away with one victory, in the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa with Quidura. His two favorites in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers ran off the board, with second-choice Gronkowski eighth and post-time favorite Good Magic running ninth of 10.
Nonetheless, Chad Brown remains well ahead in the trainer standings with more than twice as many wins (3316) as Todd Pletcher, who was second heading into Sunday’s card.
“We had some horses that ran good races, but just weren’t good enough [Saturday],’’ said Brown. “Like Lewis Bay, Engage, Wow Cat...They just weren’t good enough on the day. That’s what it’s all about with Grade 1s. You stack your horses up against the best horses. There are days when we won most of these races and our horses were the best horses and we had racing luck and got it done.” Here’s the rundown: Greyes Creek ran fourth in the first race, for 2-yearold maidens; Digital Footprint was fifth in Race 4; Engage ran fourth in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy, for 3-year-olds; Wow Cat finished third in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign for fillies and mares; Lewis Bay was third in the Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina for fillies and mares; Funtastic ran seventh in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer for 3-year-olds and up; Gronkowski and Good Magic in the Travers; Quidura won the Ballston Spa, with stablemates A Raving Beauty and Off Limits fourth and fifth, respectively; and Azzedine was fourth in 13th and final race, for maidens 3-years-old and up.
Five of his horses were favorites: Greyes Creek, Digital Footprint, Good Magic, A Raving Beauty and Azzedine.
Brown said Sunday morning that all of his runners appear to have come out of their races in good shape, and he’ll take a few more days to evaluate what’s next. He mentioned the Grade 1, 1 ¼-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on September 29 as a possible next start for Gronkowski and said he plans to wait several days before making any decisions on Good Magic.
“If Gronkowski got back to Belmont and he’s training really well and everything goes good, [the Jockey Club Gold Cup] seems like a logical spot for him given the distance. And he ran so well in the Belmont Stakes,” said Brown. “[As for] Good Magic, I haven’t given any thoughts on him until I see the horse a couple of days removed from the race.”
On his reaction after the Travers: “To have talented favorites in the race, and turning for home you know you’re not a factor, it’s not their day, it’s a tough one,” he said. “We’re not going to stop, we’ll keep on trying, that’s for sure. So, we’ll be back in the Travers.”