Chad Brown | Horse Racing Free Tips

Into Mischief Colt Brings $1 Million at Keeneland

A colt by Into Mischief sold for $1 million to the bid of bloodstock agent Mike Ryan during Thursday's fourth session of the Keeneland September sale. Ryan, who was bidding on behalf of an undisclosed group of buyers, said the yearling will be trained by Chad Brown.

Out of stakes winner and graded placed Secret Someone (A.P. Indy), the colt was bred and consigned by Greg Goodman's Mt. Brilliant Farm. He is from the family of multiple Grade I winner Dunbar Road (Quality Road).

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Brown, Saez, Klaravich Win Saratoga Meet Titles; Record Handle Tops $800M

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–After accepting his fourth H. Allen Jerkens training title late Monday afternoon, Chad Brown spoke to a common theme on the final day of a joyous season following the COVID-19 summer without fans at Saratoga Race Course

“Happy to have everybody back at the meet. That was the big thing,” Brown said. “The most rewarding part of the meet was having everybody back. Last year, win or lose, it just wasn't any fun. I can speak for me and a lot of people around me that it just wasn't any fun. To have everybody back and to see people you haven't seen in two years, family and friends–a lot of times you only see them at Saratoga–that's really been the best part of the meet.”

Despite being challenged by trying weather with rain in July and many hot, humid days in August, the 153rd season of racing was a record-smashing financial success with total handle surpassing $800 million for the first time. America's oldest and most popular racetrack was alive again for 40 days of top-level racing and from the first week, bettors embraced the Saratoga product served up by the New York Racing Association. By the 36th day Sept. 1, the all-sources handle record of $705 million set during the 39-day pre-pandemic meet in 2019 had been surpassed. Even though 45 races were moved off the turf because of wet conditions, the meet ended with all-sources handle of $815,508,063, a 15.6% increase.

“I think it went great,” said NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke. “Coming out of a year like last year to be able to run the meet–for lack of a better term–in a normal fashion, it was amazing. I think the numbers speak for themselves. The fans came out. The town was packed.”

Jason Fitch, a co-owner of King's Tavern, located across Union Avenue from the main gate, said business was very strong.

“The track this year for King's has been amazing,” Fitch said. “It was, by far, our best season yet. This was our seventh season; well, if you want to count last year.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 season was conducted in front of empty stands. Saratoga as a television event was popular, generating $702 million in all-sources handle, but there was zero excitement on the grounds. That changed this summer, and Saratoga Race Course was very much its old self. NYRA said that the daily average attendance was 26,162 and the total attendance surpassed 1 million for the sixth consecutive season, excluding 2020.

“I think it was a sigh of relief that people came back and were as enthusiastic as they are,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “I'm delighted. I couldn't be happier. It was so damn boring last year. I thought I was going to go to sleep at the races. You love to have the fans and the excitement. I do anyway.”

It was a memorable summer at the Spa for trainer Todd Pletcher, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 6, fell sick with COVID-19 despite being vaccinated and ended up second in the standings with 31 wins, 10 behind Brown. Pletcher said he welcomed the return of a familiar, comfortable Saratoga season.

“It's great to see an environment like here where you have a lot of people coming to the races and enthusiastic about it,” he said. “That's one of the great things about Saratoga. It's one of the venues where you still get that on-track attendance. We go back to Belmont and Aqueduct and it's not the same feeling because people aren't there.”

Jockey Luis Saez ended the six-year reign of the Ortiz brothers, Irad and Jose, at Saratoga and earned his first Angel Cordero, Jr. riding title with 64 wins, eight more than Irad, the defending champion. Saez, 29, won 12 stakes, six of them graded, topped by victories in the GI Runhappy Travers S. on Essential Quality (Tapit) and the GI Longines Test S. on Bella Sofia (Awesome Patrio).

“This is a tough spot, so winning this title is everything,” Saez said. “To win the Travers; racing at NYRA is the biggest deal right now, and we're so blessed to be here. It means a lot.”

Saez credited his agent, the former trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, for helping him secure the title.

“You see how tough it is to win a race here. To win 64 races here, it's wonderful,” Saez said. “I'm so thankful to the trainers and thanks to Kiaran, who did a great job. Nothing is impossible. We came here and were patient and rode our horses to win, and we did it. We're so happy to be here.”

Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables led all owners with 21 wins for its fourth straight title. Klaravich had eight more wins than runner-up Michael Dubb. It was one win shy of the Saratoga single-meet owner record of 22 wins set by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey in 2013.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen became the career leader in wins by a Thoroughbred trainer Aug. 7 with his 9,446th victory in the fifth race on the Whitney Day program. Asmussen finished the Saratoga season in impressive fashion, winning three Grade I races on the final weekend. He won the first running at Saratoga of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup with Max Player (Honor Code) Saturday, the GI Spinaway S. with Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) Sunday and the GI Hopeful S. with Gunite (Gun Runner) on the closing day card Monday. Asmussen also won two other Grade I races: the Forego with Yaupon (Uncle Mo) and the H. Allen Jerkens with Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music).

Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. had five Grade I victories: four for Asmussen aboard Max Player, Gunite, Echo Zulu and Yaupon, and piloted Maracuja (Honor Code) to an upset win in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

Brad Cox, the 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer, finished seventh in the standings with 13 victories, but two of those wins were in Saratoga's highest-profile Grade I races. Cox captured the Whitney with Knicks Go (Paynter) and three weeks later his other gray star, Essential Quality, prevailed in the 152nd Travers. Cox is the third trainer to win both races in the same season.

Brown grew up in nearby Mechanicville and learned the sport at Saratoga. He was the runner-up in the trainer's standings for five years before claiming his first title in 2016. He won again in 2018 with a record 46 wins and repeated in 2019. He won five Saratoga graded stakes in 2021, including three Grade II contests. With five wins from five starters Aug. 25 and three more the next day, Brown climbed to the top of the standings.

“I'm just so appreciative. It's probably one of the most rewarding of the meets we've won because we had a lot of things to overcome,” Brown said. “We had a terrible, terrible virus running through our barn since we arrived from Florida. It really took a lot of horses out of commission. Then we started the meet off slow. A lot of seconds. A lot of rain. By mid-meet it didn't look like we were going to get anywhere near 40 wins.”

Brown said he and his staff stayed focused and success followed.

“Then things just started coming together,” he said. “The weather cleared up. Seconds turned into wins. We had a lot of good fortune with racing luck and you can make up a lot of wins fast if you get on a roll. We certainly did Travers week.”

Fitch said he was taken by a very positive, wholly different vibe this summer at the two businesses he operates with his brothers, King's and the Saratoga City Tavern downtown on Caroline Street.

“It was night and day,” he said. “It's hard to describe it, but I think in previous years everyone was just going through motions. The whole pandemic put a light on what to appreciate in life and I think people just appreciated what we have in our backyard more.”

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Saez Wins First Saratoga Riding Title; Brown, Klaravich Tops Among Trainers, Owners

Luis Saez earned his first riding title at the famed Saratoga Race Course, tallying 64 wins for the 40-day summer meet that concluded on Labor Day Monday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Chad Brown paced all trainers with 41 wins and Klaravich Stables repeated as the top owner, compiling 21 victories.

Saez won the Angel Cordero Jr. title by posting a 64-45-39 record in 336 mounts, amassing earnings of $6.2 million. The native of Panama City, Panama, garnered his first riding title on a NYRA circuit.

The 29-year-old Saez finished eight wins clear of three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., whose 56 wins were good for second. Jose Ortiz was third with 51 wins while Joel Rosario was fourth [43].

Saez extended his run of success aboard reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Essential Quality by piloting him to victory twice during the Saratoga meet, winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy in a prep for his eventual victory in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers. Saez, who won his first Classic when leading Essential Quality to glory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets in June, has helped put his charge in position to win another Eclipse Award as Essential Quality sits as the current top contender for 3-Year-Old Male. The Runhappy Travers win was the second for Saez, who got his picture taken aboard Will Take Charge in 2013.

“This is a tough spot, so winning this title is everything,” Saez said. “To win the Travers; racing at NYRA is the biggest deal right now, and we're so blessed to be here. It means a lot.”

The Saratoga meet also saw Saez earn graded wins aboard Bella Sofia in the Grade 1 Longines Test and on Cross Border in the Grade 2 Bowling Green, along with Grade 3 scores in the Forbidden Apple [Rinaldi] and the Schuylerville [Pretty Birdie]. Other stakes wins came in the Albany [Americanrevolution], Yaddo [Giacosa], Union Avenue [Awesome Debate], Tale of the Cat [Wondrwherecraigis], Alydar [Art Collector] and the Shine Again [Bayerness].

“You see how tough it is to win a race here. To win 64 races here, it's wonderful,” Saez said. “I'm so thankful to the trainers and thanks to [agent] Kiaran [McLaughlin], who did a great job. Nothing is impossible. We came here and were patient and rode our horses to win, and we did it. We're so happy to be here.”

Saez said he's hopeful his good stretch could put him in contention for his first Eclipse Award.

“That's my biggest dream, so let's keep going and see what happens,” Saez said.

Brown registered his fourth H. Allen Jerkens award as top trainer and his third in the last four meets after previously finishing as the leading conditioner in 2016 and 2018-19.

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Brown, who set a meet record for conditioners with 46 wins in 2018, edged 14-time Saratoga leading trainer – and 2021 Hall of Fame inductee –Todd Pletcher [31 wins] and third-place finisher Mike Maker [25].

The Mechanicville, N.Y., native posted five graded stakes wins, compiling a record of 41-34-24 with 176 starters and earnings of more than $4.5 million. Among the highlights was Technical Analysis winning both the Grade 3 Lake George and the Grade 2 Lake Placid, with Viadera capturing the Grade 2 Ballston Spa and Public Sector winning the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and Grade 3 Saranac. Royal Flag also earned a victory in the Grade 3 Shuvee.

“It's really been one of the most gratifying meets we've had given the fact that we started out really slow with a lot of seconds and a ton of rain,” Brown said. “For the horses and my team to persevere and battle back has just made it such a gratifying meet. Credit, first and foremost, my team, to focus in on their individual tasks, execute our plan and take it one day at a time. We've turned the meet around and had a remarkable run the last fourteen days.”

Brown, who tallied four straight Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Trainer from 2016-19, also racked up Saratoga stakes wins in the Better Talk Now [Sifting Sands], Riskaverse [Rastafara], John's Call [Serve the King], Fasig-Tipton De La Rose [Regal Glory] and the Fasig-Tipton Lure [Flavius]. Combined, Brown and Pletcher have won every Saratoga training title since 2010.

“Obviously it was great to see and for me, I have a better appreciation for it. I don't take anything for granted,” said Brown of his continued success at his hometown track following a 2020 when spectators were not permitted on site at Saratoga due to COVID-19 concerns. “After a year with nobody here, you do gain a greater appreciation of having the freedom to come to the track and interact with people. I always have been one to try and stop and talk to people whether it's for a picture or to sign something, or just to chat. You stop a little bit more when you realize people really wanted to be here. They don't have to be here, but they are here because they want to be. I've had a great time catching up with people I hadn't seen and also meeting a lot of new people every week.”

Klaravich Stables was the leading Saratoga owner for the fourth consecutive meet, extending a run that started in 2018. Headed by Seth Klarman, the ownership entity finished eight wins ahead of runner-up Michael Dubb's 13 victories. Three Diamonds Farm was third [10 wins] and Repole Stable [nine] was fourth. Klaravich Stables was one win shy of the Saratoga single-meet owner record of 22 wins set by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey in 2013.

For the meet, Klaravich Stables posted a 21-8-12 record with 65 starters, tallying earnings of $1.54 million. Brown trained the two horses [Technical Analysis and Public Sector] who accounted for all four of the stable's graded stakes winners this meet.

Live racing returns Thursday, September 16 for Opening Day of the 28-day fall meet at Belmont Park, featuring the Grade 1, $150,000 Lonesome Glory, a 2 1/2-mile steeplechase handicap for 4-year-olds and up.

The Belmont Park fall meet, which will run from Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, October 31, will include five Grade 1 races and five “Win and You're In” qualifiers to the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar.

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Brown Eyes Hollywood Derby For Public Sector, Sifting Sands

Trainer Chad Brown expressed a strong sense of satisfaction with Klaravich Stables' Public Sector, who secured a second graded stakes victory this meet when capturing the Grade 3 Saranac at 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Saratoga.

Prior to winning Saturday's Saranac by one length, Public Sector scored by the same margin in the one-mile Grade 2 Hall of Fame on August 6 at the Spa.

“He came out of it in good shape. He continues to develop,” Brown said. “To win two stakes at the meet for a 3-year-old is impressive. I'm very pleased with how far this horse has come along this year.”

Brown also saddled Technical Analysis, a fellow Klaravich Stables color-bearer, to dual graded stakes victories this meet in capturing the Grade 3 Lake George on July 23 and the Grade 2 Lake Placid on August 21.

“Winning two stakes at Saratoga is hard to do. They both have developed as well as they could,” Brown said.

With the Saranac in the rearview mirror, Brown said he will now likely point Public Sector toward the nine-furlong $400,000 Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on November 27 at Del Mar.

“I've had a lot of horses that at four have stretched out effectively,” Brown said. “These horses look like horses that will. How far and when I'm not sure, but we'll slowly get them out a little further over time.”

Both Public Sector and Technical Analysis are by 2014 Cartier Horse of the Year Kingman, whose three stakes winners this meet were all conditioned by Brown.

“Luckily, we were in on the first crop, we believed in the horse. We thought he had tremendous potential. Of course, not knowing what a first crop will do, but he's really developed into one of the top sires in the world,” Brown said. “We've been buying along each crop and supporting the horse. We believe in him and hopefully, we'll be able to still get our hands on some. They are really straightforward and honest horses to train, they should a great turn of foot in the mornings. They're sound horses.”

Brown also has the Hollywood Derby in mind for Peter Brant's Sifting Sands, who won the Better Talk Now on August 29 at one mile over the inner turf.

“I think it's a race that will fit him later in the year,” Brown said. “I plan on running him [and Public Sector] one time beforehand. He's a well-bred and well-meant horse and if he can target that, it's an important race that could make him a stallion at some point.”

Brown visited the winner's circle on Friday with Shadwell Stable's Emaraaty, who picked up a fourth lifetime win, besting an allowance optional claiming field on September 3 going one mile over the inner turf. The son of Dubawi arose from a five-month respite to produce a 95 Beyer. He ran the same figure in his first start for Brown in July 2019, which came off a year-long layoff.

“He's been a little frustrating to keep in a normal training routine of racing and he's a difficult horse to train, but I was really proud of how he ran the other day,” Brown said. “He's back in form now. He's got some age on him now, but he showed he can still do it. I'm hoping to get in a stake next time, but I'm not sure where.”

On Saturday, Brown saddled Pipeline to a maiden special weight triumph at fourth asking. Owned by John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock, the sophomore son of Speightstown cut back to seven furlongs on the main track after finishing a close second going nine furlongs on July 28, coming up a head shy of victory to next-out winner Vindictive.

Brown said adding blinkers to Pipeline has made all the difference.

“He's been one of my real pleasant surprises of the summer. We liked him, he trained really well but ran not too good in his first two starts. I was sort of lost with him,” Brown said. “Thankfully, we put some blinkers on him and he did a turnaround. With a little bit of racing experience in blinkers, he way exceeded my expectations from his first two races and what I was starting to think about him. He's an example of turning a second into a win later. He obviously got beat by a really good horse [Vindictive] who came back and won. I'm happy to have a nice late-blooming 3-year-old dirt horse going into the fall when some of these other horses might be tired now.”

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