Look for Brown when they’re on the green at Saratoga.
That’s Brown, as in Chad Brown, anytime he saddles a runner for the Spa turf course.
Chad Brown. NYRA Photo
Trainer Chad Brown will be busy in stakes at Saratoga over the weekend
A pair of grass stakes headline the first Saturday in upstate New York: the $500,000 Diana Stakes (G1) for older fillies and mares and the $175,000 Kelso for milers. Brown will play a leading role in both.
Brown, steadily building a Hall of Fame career, is one of the sport’s turf masters. Consider his grass numbers last summer at Saratoga from 92 starters: 19 winners (21%) and a phenomenal 56% in-the-money tally (19-18-15).
That’s heady stuff on the lawn.
Brown has five for the Diana
Part of the Brown turf success story is the old fashioned 1-2 punch: quality and quantity.
He’s not holding anything back in this one. By the way, Brown has already won this race stakes a record eight times.
The Brown brigade is led by Whitebeam, winner of last year’s Diana. The gray mare, now 5, has been knocking on the door this season with a pair of seconds in her two outings. She missed by only a neck in the season debut, the Beaugay (G3) at Aqueduct before stepping up to a Grade 1 in the Just A Game. This is a furlong longer than the 1-mile Just A Game, and that plays to her strength.
Chili Flag is on a huge roll with three consecutive stakes wins, including the Just A Game. The trio of victories were all at a mile, so the added distance here could compromise her chances.
Fluffy Socks is a hard-knocking 6-year-old who has earned over $1.2 million. Last time out, Fluffy Socks won the Galorette (G3) at Pimlico. She ran fifth in last year’s Diana.
Gina Romantica is still striving to reach her best stride this year. She has a fifth and a seventh in two Grade 1 starts this season.
Coppice, the final member of Team Brown, is still getting oriented to North American racing. This is her third U.S. start after registering four wins in England.
Can anyone fend off Brown in the Diana?
Didia. NYRA Photo.
Perhaps Didia. She has been outstanding this year with victories in the Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G2) and the New York (G1).
When asked about facing the Brown squad, trainer Ignacio Correas IV said, “I can only train one horse and it is mine, so I need to focus on our horse. Hopefully she’ll keep doing it the way she has been doing it.”
Fair enough. For you the bettor, it will soon be time to decide: What can Brown do for you?
For those who bet horse racing:
The picks: 1 Whitebeam 2 Chili Flag 3 Didia
Brown tees up Carl Spackler in the Kelso
Bill Murray was Carl Spackler, the dimwitted groundskeeper in the movie Caddyshack.
Carl Spackler the racehorse is a much sharper character. He is Brown’s lone representative in the five-horse Kelso.
It’s been a mixed bag for the 4-year-old chestnut colt. He was a disappointing fifth last time out in the Poker (G3) as the 9-5 favorite.
On the positive side, Carl Spackler was a perfect 2-for-2 last summer at Saratoga, winning the Hall of Fame (G2) and the Saranac (G3). It could be another Cinderella story.
One of the few trainers more fearsome on the turf than Brown is Charlie Appleby, the overseer of the powerful Godolphin racing operation.
He sends out Mysterious Night, the runner up last time out in the Poker in his return to the U.S.
“He ran a good race there in his first start this season in America,” Appleby said. “He came out of it well and I feel he’ll be a live player.”
The picks: 1 Mysterious Night 2 Carl Spackler 3 Talk of the Nation