Chad Brown | Horse Racing Free Tips

Micheline Faces Brown-Trained Duo In Saturday’s Jenny Wiley

Godolphin's homebred Micheline, winner of the Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs in her 2021 debut, and the graded stakes-winning duo of Etoile and Tamahere trained by Chad Brown headline a small but select field of six fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday's 33rd running of the $300,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at Keeneland.

The Coolmore Jenny Wiley, run at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, will go as the 10th race on Saturday afternoon's 11-race program with a 6:03 p.m. post time. First post time is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Mike Stidham, Micheline closed 2020 with a victory in the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs and then was runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana here last fall. Her victory in the Hillsborough represented her first graded stakes victory.

Luis Saez will have the mount and break from post one.

A racing rarity will occur Saturday when half-siblings Micheline and Proxy – whose dam is millionaire Panty Raid, winner of the 2007 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) at Keeneland – start in consecutive graded stakes for owner-breeder Godolphin.

Micheline, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini, will be looking for her first Grade 1 victory in the $300,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) at 1 1/16 miles on turf. In the day's previous race, the 3-year-old Tapit colt Proxy will bid for his first stakes win in the $200,000 Stonestreet Lexington (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on dirt.

Both are trained by Mike Stidham.

While they share immense talent, Stidham said the sister and brother have distinctive traits. Most notably, Micheline is claustrophobic in traditional housing, so she resides in a portable stall near Stidham's barn. At Keeneland, the special setup awaits her Thursday arrival from Florida.

Micheline also showed her talent sooner than Proxy did.

Micheline, who has earned $665,978 with five wins in 13 starts, flashed her brilliance before finishing third in her career debut in August 2019 at Saratoga.

“We took her to Saratoga for her first start, so that shows how much we thought about her,” Stidham said. “We very rarely run horses at Saratoga unless we are very high on them.”

Micheline fulfilled expectations by winning the Sorority at Monmouth Park a month later. She next was unplaced in her lone dirt start in Keeneland's Darley Alcibiades (G1).

Winner of the Honey Ryder at Gulfstream Park at 3, Micheline closed her sophomore season at Keeneland as runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana. In her first start of 2021, she won the March 6 Hillsborough (G2) at Tampa Bay Downs.

Stidham said Proxy's ability was not as evident early as his sister's was.

“Proxy is one of those horses who did everything right but not anything real flashy,” Stidham said. “He was never a 'wow' horse going into his first start.”

Proxy earned his first victory in November at Fair Grounds in his second start and next was second in the Lecomte (G3) and Risen Star (G2) Presented by Lamarque Ford. A winner of two races from six starts – all on dirt – with earnings of $227,700, he comes into the Stonestreet Lexington off a fourth-place effort in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds.

“After the Lexington, we will see how he runs and decide where we go from there,” Stidham said.

Brown will be going for his fourth consecutive victory and fifth overall in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley when he sends out Etiole, owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. M.V. Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, and Tamahere, owned by Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables.

Etoile will be making her first start since winning the E.P. Taylor (G1) at Woodbine in October. A Group 3 winner in France before coming to North America, she will be ridden by Javier Castellano and break from post four.

Tamahere, winner of the Sands Point (G2) in her U.S. debut in October, will be making her first start since finishing sixth in the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will break from post two.

Brown's winners in the Coolmore Jenny Wiley are Ball Dancing (2015), Sistercharlie (IRE) (2018) and Rushing Fall in 2019 and 2020.

The field for the Coolmore Jenny Wiley, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Micheline (Saez, 118 pounds), Tamahere (FR) (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118), Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Tyler Gaffalione, 118), Etoile (FR) (Castellano, 120), Maxim Rate (Umberto Rispoli, 118) and La Signare (FR) (John Velazquez, 118).

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Unbeaten Search Results Atop Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard After Gazelle Victory

Klaravich Stables' Search Results remained undefeated in three starts with a facile score in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The Flatter filly, who earned 100 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points in victory, entered the nine-furlong test from a half-length score in the Busher Invitational going a one-turn mile. She earned a 92 Beyer for her Gazelle triumph and now tops the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 150 points.

“She looks great this morning,” said Dan Stupp, trainer Chad Brown's New York-based assistant. “She ran well yesterday and she still has room to move forward. She certainly handled the distance well.”

The Brown-trained The Grass Is Blue, a Broken Vow chestnut owned by Louis Lazzinnaro, finished fourth in the Gazelle.

Brown saddled a pair of contenders for Klaravich Stables in the Wood Memorial with Crowded Trade rallying from eighth to finish third, while mutuel favorite Risk Taking bobbled at the start and finished seventh.

Crowded Trade entered the Wood from a nose defeat to Weyburn in the Grade 3 Gotham, while Risk Taking was made the Wood favorite on the back of a convincing score in the Grade 3 Withers.

“He tried and ran well,” said Stupp regarding Crowded Trade. “Everyone is fine this morning. We'll see what Chad wants to do moving forward with them.”

Not to be overshadowed on the Wood Memorial undercard was an impressive North American debut by Peter Brant's Flighty Lady in a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance. The 4-year-old Sir Percy filly finished third in the 2019 Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp and placed in a pair of Group 3 events last year in France.

Flighty Lady was prepared by Brown at Payson Park in Florida and demonstrated a powerful kick under Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the final sixteenth to win by two lengths.

“She shipped in middle of the week and looked fantastic,” said Stupp. “She is a very classy acting filly and well behaved in the paddock. She gave a good impression on race day and then ran to it. It was a very patient ride from Irad and she responded well. She's a very exciting turf prospect for us this year.”

Flighty Lady registered an 86 Beyer in victory.

Klaravich Stables' Highly Motivated, who finished third for Brown in the Grade 3 Gotham, was a game second in Saturday's Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland. The Into Mischief bay battled gamely on the pace en route to a narrow neck defeat to undefeated Essential Quality, the reigning Champion 2-year-old colt. Highly Motivated is in 14th position in the Derby standings with 50 points.

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Cox Pleased With Essential Quality’s Blue Grass Performance: ‘I Liked That He Got A Test’

Trainer Brad Cox was a happy camper Sunday morning, pleased with all aspects of the gutty victory by Godolphin's undefeated champion Essential Quality in Saturday's $800,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G2) at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

“He looks good this morning and I am happy with the way he came out of the race,” Cox said of Essential Quality, a son of Tapit who extended his unbeaten streak to five with his neck victory over Highly Motivated. “I liked that he got a test yesterday. It was not like he just galloped up to the leader and went on by.”

Cox said Essential Quality would go to Churchill Downs Monday morning after training hours to join his string there and continue preparations for the $3-million Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 1.

Essential Quality might be joined soon at Churchill by the Into Mischief colt Highly Motivated, according to Whit Beckman, assistant to trainer Chad Brown.

“He is good this morning,” Beckman said of Highly Motivated. “He put in a valiant effort yesterday going two turns for the first time. He took all the heat and kept battling.

“I am not sure (how long he will stay here), but knowing Chad I would not be surprised to see him go to Churchill for a couple of works.”

John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer, who picked up 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with his third-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass, might wait for the Preakness (G1) on May 15, trainer Michael McCarthy said via text.

The Kentucky Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners that pass the entry box and Rombauer has 34 points, which is good for 21st on the leaderboard with two more points races to go on Saturday: the Arkansas Derby (G1), which awards 170 points on a 100-40-20-10 scale to the top four finishers, and Keeneland's Stonestreet Lexington (G3), which offers 34 points on a 20-8-4-2 scale.

Prior to the Toyota Blue Grass, Rombauer won the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields and earned an automatic berth into the Preakness.

BBN Racing's Hidden Stash picked up 10 Derby points for his fourth-place finish to boost his total to 32, good for 23^rd on the leaderboard.

“He is good this morning,” trainer Vicki Oliver said. “We will see what the owners want to do – either the Derby or, if he looks tired, wait for the Preakness or Belmont.”

The Kentucky Derby dream ended for Cypress Creek, Arnold Bennewith and Spendthrift Farm's Keepmeinmind with his fifth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass, a position that earned him no points toward the Run for the Roses. Keepmeinmind, runner-up to Essential Quality in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) and third to him in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance here last fall, has 18 points and stands 28th on the leaderboard.

“I don't know what to tell you (about the Toyota Blue Grass performance),” trainer Robertino Diodoro said before heading back to his main string at Oaklawn Park. “Obviously we don't have enough points and what's next, that's the million-dollar question.”

The day was not a total loss for Diodoro as Cypress Creek's Ava's Grace finished second in the Fantasy (G3) at Oaklawn and picked up 40 points toward the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and a likely spot in the 14-horse starting gate.

“We are pretty excited about her,” Diodoro said. “I don't know if she will come here first and then go to Louisville but either way we have to get her up here ASAP from Oaklawn.”

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Search Results Dominates Filly Rivals In Gazelle Stakes At Aqueduct

Search Results ran her record to a perfect 3-for-3 and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. scored his fifth victory on the day when the Klaravich Stables 3-year-old easily defeated five other fillies seeking Kentucky Oaks points in the Grade 3 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Racing just off pacesetter Alwayz Late, Search Results moved to the lead on the turn for home without any urging and was never threatened down the stretch, drawing off to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Maracuja, who trailed the field in the run down the backstretch under Kendrick Carmouche, finished second, with Army Wife and Trevor McCarthy third, The Grass Is Blue fourth, Alwayz Late fifth and Mia Martina sixth.

A 3-year-old filly by Flatter bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall and purchased from Select Sales at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Mike Ryan, agent, for $310,000, Search Results, produced from the Candy Ride mare Co Cola, is trained by Chad Brown. She covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:54.14 and paid $2.80 as the odds-on favorite. Fractions of the Gazelle were :24.88, :50.99, 1:15.06 and 1:40.70.

The top four finishers in the Gazelle earned 100-40-20-10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks, to be run at Churchill Downs on April 30.

Search Results did not race at 2 but won her debut at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 3, taking a six-furlong maiden contest by four lengths. Brown sent the filly to New York for her next start in the Busher Invitational on March 6 and she responded with a half-length win, getting up in the final strides to defeat favored Miss Brazil.

Post-race quotes:

Chad Brown, winning trainer of Search Results (No. 8, $2.80*) and fourth-place finisher The Grass Is Blue (No. 5): “I thought she [Search Results] was very professional today. She maybe lost focus when she surged to the front and there was no one around her in deep stretch. When she had a horse in front of her, I loved the way she was moving into the bit. I was relieved to see that she could handle the mile and an eighth. We were cautiously optimistic, but you always have to see them do it first to be sure.”

On running in the Kentucky Oaks on April 30: “If she comes out of it in good shape, that would be the next step and it's something we've been working towards. Although she got her season started late, she seems to be catching up fast on this crop. She seems like one of the contenders, at least, so we're thankful for that.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr., winning jockey aboard Search Results (No. 8): “She relaxed so good. She did everything right. We broke out of there and had a target. Going into the last turn, I had plenty of horse, I was just waiting to make my move. When I asked her, she really picked it up.”

On notching his fifth win on the card and returning to New York to ride in the spring meet: “I'm so happy to be back home in New York. I have to thank all the trainers and owners. I know all the people here and I'm happy to be riding for so many trainers.”

Rob Atras, trainer of runner-up Maracuja (No. 2): The track was a little slow and they were going slow, but I wasn't too concerned as she has that late running style. She was settled and when Kendrick [Carmouche] asked her to pick it up, she did it. She raced wide and closed and ran a really game second. I'm really happy with her effort.”

Kendrick Carmouche, jockey aboard runner-up Maracuja (No. 2): “I loved this filly today. I knew coming from six and a half [furlongs] and stretching out to a mile and an eighth, I just wanted to get a good break and ride her like I did last time [a win on February 21 at Aqueduct]. She made a big run and did it well. I'm looking forward to riding her next time because this distance should really move her forward.”

Trevor McCarthy, jockey aboard third-place finisher Army Wife (No. 4): “I had an inside trip the whole way. The hole was there when we shot for it. We had a bit of inside pressure and outside pressure. It was just a tough situation. Sometimes, you get lucky. Sometimes, you don't.”

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