Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
No Derby for Brown, but still a successful weekend
A third-place finish by Zandon in the Kentucky Derby notwithstanding, trainer Chad Brown enjoyed a terrific three-day period with his stable between New York and Kentucky, winning nine races from the 22 in which he had runners, five of which were Grade 2 stakes, one a Grade 3.
Brown had 33 starters in those 22 races and ended up with 10 seconds and five thirds in addition to the nine wins.
Perhaps the most notable victory was the 3 3/4-length score recorded by Jack Christopher in Saturday’s Grade 2 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. Jack Christopher, a 3-year-old son of Munnings, was returning from a seven-month layoff, during which he underwent surgery to repair an injured shin. In the post-race interview, Brown credited Dr. Larry Bramlage, who performed the surgery last fall.
“He came up with a plan: ‘This is what you need to do and it should prevent you from having to stop in the future,’ “Brown said.
One of Brown’s goals for Jack Christopher this summer is the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 23. Brown said, “The most likely landing spot” for Jack Christopher’s next race is the Grade 1, $400,000 Woody Stephens, a sevenfurlong race at Belmont Park on June 11. It was at Belmont last October where Jack Christopher won the Grade 1 Champagne.
“It’s a Grade 1, we know he likes Belmont, he doesn’t have to ship,” said Brown, who noted the Pegasus Stakes, a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race at Monmouth on June 18 is also under consideration. “I don’t want to overthink it.”
Jack Christopher earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for his performance in the Pat Day Mile.
Earlier on the Saturday card, Brown sent out Speak of the Devil and In Italian to a 1-2 finish in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile. In what was her U.S. debut, Speak of the Devil demonstrated a devastating turn of foot that carried her from last of six to first in rapid fashion.
Speak of the Devil, a Frenchbred daughter of Wootton Bassett, is likely to make her next start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Just a Game at Belmont on June 11, when she will likely run against her stablemate Regal Glory, who on April 16 won the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland. Both are owned by Peter Brant.
“You got to settle it sooner or later on the track,” Brown said. “If they both do well there then we’ll separate them after that. Speak of the Devil might have enough range to look at the Diana [at 1 1/8 miles]. One of them might run against the boys in the Fourstardave. They’ll find different paths if they’re healthy, God willing, but right now they appear to be on a collision course.”
Speak of the Devil earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
On Friday, at Churchill, Brown ran 1-2 in the Grade 3 Modesty with Bleecker Steet and Fluffy Socks.
In New York on Saturday, Brown won four races including the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay with Virginia Joy and the Grade 2 Fort Marcy with L’Imperator. Both horses went gate to wire over yielding ground, made so by a day-long showers.
Virginia Joy, who won by 14 1/4 lengths in a four-horse field, will likely start next in the Grade 1, $750,000 New York Stakes at Belmont on June 10, Brown said.
“We’ll see what happens down the road, but I’m not ruling out running against the boys in a race like the United Nations,” Brown said, referring to the Grade 1 turf race run on the July 23 Monmouth card. “She’s getting pretty good, I wouldn’t be afraid of doing that.”
L’Imperator pulled off a 10-1 upset under Eric Cancel in a race in which Brown also sent out the second-place finisher Sacred Life and the fifth-place finisher Rockemperor. Brown equipped L’Imperator with blinkers and jockey Eric Cancel put him on the lead and led every step of the way.
“That’s the second year in a row Eric wired the field in that race for us,” said Brown, who won the 2021 Fort Marcy with Tribhuvan and who has won the last five runnings of that race. “I’m very appreciative and proud of him. He went out there and rode this horse with a lot of confidence and a lot of focus. He believed in him.”
Brown wrapped up his terrific three-day stretch with a 1-2 finish in Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian as Search Results bounced back from her disappointing effort in the Distaff at Aqueduct, beating stablemate Royal Flag by three lengths over a sealed, muddy surface.
Meanwhile, Brown said Sunday that Zandon, beaten a 1 1/2 lengths by Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby, would ship back to New York early this week and he would evaluate how the horse is training and confer with owner Jeff Drown before deciding where to run next. The Preakness has not been ruled out. Brown is pointing Early Voting, the Wood Memorial runner-up, to the Preakness.