The waiting game is over for trainer Chad Brown when it comes to a pair of his long absent female turf runners.
Klaravich Stables Inc.'s Faith in Humanity, a 4-year-old filly, and Peter Brant's Speak of the Devil, a 6-year-old mare, will come back to the races Saturday when they represent Brown in the $150,000 Honey Fox (G3) for fillies and mares, aged 4-and-up.
A field of 11 is entered for the mile journey on the turf. The Honey Fox is one of nine stakes (eight graded) on Saturday's 14-race card headlined by the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2). Post time for the first race is 11 a.m
Faith in Humanity, who will be ridden by Joel Rosario for the first time, hasn't been seen since winning the $150,000 Pebbles (G3) at Aqueduct on Sept. 18. Speak of the Devil, who gets Gulfstream's leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. for the first time, has been away even longer. Her last race was the $500,000 Just a Game (G1) at Belmont on June 11, and she finished fourth as the even-money favorite.
Brown said Speak of the Devil needed surgery after the Just a Game and that put her on the equine disabled list. Faith in Humanity, Brown said, had a minor issue after the Pebbles – it did not require surgery – and needed some time.
“I am cautiously optimistic that both these fillies will have good seasons,” Brown said. “Just want to keep them healthy. They are a pair of nice stakes fillies.”
Brown has won the Honey Fox twice, the latest coming a year ago with In Italian. He also won it in 2019 with Precieuse, who was making her first start in eight months. Both of those Honey Fox champions were owned by Brant.
To get horses back to the races off injuries, Brown said he uses patience – plenty of that – as well as letting the horses give him some clues. It's an exercise he was taught long ago by his mentor, the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel.
“I train a lot by feel,” he said. “I am constantly observing my horses. I keep moving them up to different levels of workloads and I observe how they execute it and how they recover from it. When I feel they are getting close to a race, I pick my head up and start picking out a target for them. In other words, I just kind of let the horse tell me.”
Both of Brown's horses are French-breds. Faith in Humanity has two wins and a second in three career starts – all at a mile on the grass – while Speak of the Devil's first 14 races were in France before Brant purchased her and sent her to Brown's barn.
She won her first U.S. start – the $500,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs by 23/4 lengths and then saw her season end after the Just a Game.
“She is back and looks fabulous,” Brown said. “This is a good starting point for her, for both of them.”
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott is one of nine trainers bringing horses to the Honey Fox to challenge Brown. He has Gainesway Stables' White Frost, who notched an optional claiming allowance win by 21/4 lengths in her 2023 debut. She is 2-for-2 at Gulfstream as she also won the $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3) in January of 2021.
The 5-year-old Candy Ride mare will be ridden by Junior Alvarado.
“The timing of the Honey Fox is fine for us,” Mott said. “She usually stays in position and puts herself sort of in the race and makes a nice run. I think she is cut out to be a nice filly.”
Dewberry Thoroughbreds LLC's Princess Theorem, a 5-year-old daughter of Nyquist, has hit the board in six of her 11 turf starts for trainer Brendan Walsh and gets the services of jockey Tyler Gaffalione.
“It was a big effort last time in the allowance (win) and, the time before that, the (1 1/16-mile) distance might have been a little bit out of reach for her,” Walsh said. “But she ran well both times at Gulfstream, so we'll take a shot. When she's right, she can be pretty good.”
Trevor Harris' Sweet Enough will try to rebound from an eighth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G3) for trainer Roger Attfield and will be ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson.
Also entered in the Honey Fox are Victory Racing Partners' Kahiko for trainer J. Kent Sweezey and jockey Paco Lopez; Hibiscus Stables LLC and Dig That Mine LLC's Miss Delicious, who is trained by Steve Klesaris and will be ridden by Javier Castellano; Roger Keith Long's Miss Yearwood, trained by Ian Wilkes and the jockey is Luca Panici; L.T.B Inc and Hillerich Racing Inc's Touch of Class, who is trained by David Fawkes and will be ridden by Julien Leparoux; Susan and Jim Hill's Fast as Flight, who is trained by Brian Lynch and will be ridden by Jose Ortiz and J and J Stables LLC and Nicholas Vaccarezza's Sweet Dani Girl, trained by Carlo Vaccarezza and will be ridden by Luis Saez.
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