Chad Brown | Horse Racing Free Tips

Daunt Goes For First Stakes Win In Friday’s Awad

Marc Keller's Kentucky homebred Daunt will look to make his stakes debut a winning one in Friday's $100,000 Awad, a 1 1/16-mile Widener turf test for juveniles at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The Awad is one of four stakes on Friday's packed card, including the $200,000 Ticonderoga, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for state-bred fillies and mares; the $150,000 Tempted, a one-turn mile for juvenile fillies; and the $100,000 Atlantic Beach, a six-furlong turf sprint for 2-year-olds.

Trained by Bobby Ribaudo, Daunt, a 2-year-old Nyquist colt, finished a close fifth in his August debut traveling 1 1/16-miles over the firm turf at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He overcame a bobbled start to graduate at second asking with a strong rallying effort traveling 1 1/16-miles over firm Belmont turf on September 23.

Ribaudo said Daunt has matured considerably.

“He was a playful colt and we were considering gelding him, but he's really turned around,” Ribaudo said. “His race in Saratoga was real good. We just wanted to see what he was all about in that spot. He came back here and broke his maiden and it was a troubled trip for a young horse, but he handled it well mentally.”

The well-related Daunt is out of the graded-stakes placed Artie Schiller mare Promotional, who is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winner and $2 million earner Marketing Mix.

Keller purchased Promotional for $275,000 in foal to Nyquist out of the 2019 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. A Glen Hill Farm homebred, the turf-focused Promotional made all but two of her 18 career starts at 1 1/16-miles or beyond, including a runner-up effort in the 12-furlong 2017 Grade 3 Dowager at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

“She was with Tom Proctor her whole career for Glen Hill, so she was in good hands racing wise. She's a homebred of theirs and we bought her in foal to Nyquist,” Ribaudo said. “This is her first foal and it turned out to be real nice. We have a Speightstown out of her but we're thinking about going back to Nyquist.

“The mare was all distance,” Ribaudo added. “She was placed going long in stakes and this horse [Daunt] shows the same kind of talent and he never gets tired.”

Ribaudo said if Daunt continues to improve, he would be a good fit for NYRA's Turf Triple Series.

“He's going to be a very nice horse next year,” Ribaudo said. “I'm hoping he stays around for those long races here next year for 3-year-olds.”

Daunt breezed a half-mile in :50.22 seconds October 24 over firm Belmont inner turf, which was softened somewhat by overnight rain. Ribaudo said he expects Daunt will be able to handle less-than-firm footing this weekend if needed.

“Since the race, he's really been training good. I worked him the other day on the turf and he did well,” Ribaudo said. “Soft turf is tiring for young horses but he never gets tired, so I don't think it will affect him as much it might the other horses.”

Manny Franco will have the call from post 3.

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Royal Spirit graduated on debut at 1 1/16-miles over firm Spa turf in August for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. By Into Mischief, the $450,000 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase purchase was bumped at the break before rallying to finish second last out in the one-mile Nownownow over good turf at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on September 26.

Pletcher said he's hopeful of a good effort on Friday.

“I think he's proven he's a stakes quality horse,” Pletcher said.

Royal Spirit will emerge from post 6 under Paco Lopez.

General Ken, a recent private purchase for owner Louis Lazzinnaro, will make his stakes debut for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown.

A Violence juvenile, General Ken earned a 74 Beyer for a front-running 7 1/4-length maiden score traveling a mile and 70 yards over good turf at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., on September 15.

General Ken has breezed five times at Belmont with his last two works coming over the inner turf, including a five-eighths effort Saturday in 1:01.40.

Dylan Davis will pilot General Ken from post 2.

Rounding out the field are maiden winners Geno [post 5, Jorge Vargas, Jr.], Artie's Angel [post 1, Wilmer Garcia], and Ohtwoohthreefive [post 4, Eric Cancel].

The Awad is slated as Race 7 on Friday's 10-race card. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Week in Review: Can Jack Christopher be Brown’s First Dirt Superstar?

When pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup were announced last week it was no surprise that Chad Brown's contingent was dominated by turf horses. He has 11 entered for grass races and just three for dirt races. Since he went out on his own in 2007, Brown has established himself as the sport's best grass trainer and grass racing has always been his focus. Entering Sunday's races, he had won 1,316 turf races for a winning rate of 25% and 63.5% of his career wins had come on the grass. Brown has trained nine grass horses who won Eclipse Awards and has won so many grass stakes that it's hard to keep count. He's won 15 Breeders' Cup races, 13 in grass events.

But his most talented Breeders' Cup starter may not be a turf horse. Jack Christopher (Munnings), pre-entered in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, has looked sensational in his two career starts, including a romp in the GI Champagne S. in which he earned a 102 Beyer figure.

“He was a horse that identified himself as early on as his first work,” Brown said after the Champagne. “I was on the phone with the connections saying, 'This is potentially a really good horse. I can't believe what I just saw.' He's just been brilliant in every work. There was some buzz around him before he ran, and he lived up to it.”

An awful lot can go wrong between now and the first week of May, but should he win Friday he will be a solid early favorite for the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby. This one looks to have the potential to go places where only special horses go, which, for Brown, could mean filling in what is maybe the only hole on his resume.

It's not that Brown can't train a dirt horse. He has 756 career dirt wins and his winning rate of 25% on the main track is identical to his percentage on the turf. He has won the GI Champagne S. three times and the GI Cigar Mile twice. He has also won, among others, the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the GI Haskell S., the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI Acorn S., the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. In 2017, he snuck into Pimlico with the lightly regarded Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) and won the GI Preakness S. at 13-1 for his lone win in a Triple Crown race. He had a nice run in 2016 with Connect (Curlin), who won the GII Pennsylvania Derby, the GI Cigar Mile H. and the GIII Westchester S.

But he's been quiet over the years in the Triple Crown preps and the Triple Crown races themselves. He's 0-for-6 in the Derby, 1-for-2 in the Preakness and 0-for-3 in the GI Belmont S.

Brown's best dirt horse to date has been Good Magic. After finishing second in the 2017 Champagne, he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and later the GII Blue Grass S. He ran a winning race when second in the Derby, but just happened to run into a buzz saw in eventual Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy). After running fourth in the Preakness, he won the Haskell and was retired after a ninth-place finish in the GI Runhappy Travers S. Though unable to win a Triple Crown race, he proved that Brown could successfully navigate a good horse through the preps and the Triple Crown races.

He didn't fare quiet as well with his two other top prospects, 2018 Champagne winner Complexity (Maclean's Music) and 2016 winner Practical Joke (Into Mischief). Complexity finished 10th in his Breeders' Cup Juvenile and his biggest win thereafter came in the GII Kelso H. Practical Joke, now a well-regarded stallion standing at Coolmore, finished third in the Juvenile and fifth in the Derby. He later won the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. Brown has had five starters in the Juvenile overall.

Brown doesn't have anything to prove when it comes to dirt horses, but not everyone sees it that way. The Juvenile, next year's preps and the Derby itself will be seen as a test for him. He's just 42 and is arguably one of the best there's ever been. He's going to win the Kentucky Derby. Maybe as soon as next year.

What's Going On With Asmussen, Santana?

Steve Asmussen is not only the top trainer all time in wins, he is remarkably consistent. Since 1997, he's never had a year in which his stable won with less than 18% of its starters. All of which makes what went on at Keeneland so remarkable. Asmussen finished the meet Saturday with a record of 1-for-57. And it wasn't a matter of a lot of near misses. He had just seven seconds and seven thirds. Asmussen did win 14 races at other tracks during the Keeneland meet.

It was an even worse story for his go-to rider, Ricardo Santana, Jr. He was 0-for-81 with seven seconds and eight thirds. Including four races he lost at Belmont earlier in October, Santana entered Sunday's card at Churchill Downs having ridden 85 straight losers. On the year, he's won with 17% of his starters.

The last race Santana won was on Oct. 3 aboard Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the GI Frizette S. at Belmont.

Asmussen and Santana figure to bust out of their slumps any day now, but what if they don't? Both will be heavily involved in the Breeders' Cup races, including with Echo Zulu, who will be the solid favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Should handicappers look elsewhere? It's something to consider.

Watch Out For Americanrevolution

Though he was competing in restricted company, in the Empire Classic H. for New York-breds, Americanrevolution (Constitution) served notice Saturday at Belmont that he is going to be a force going forward.

A bit of a late-developer, he ran a creditable race when third against open company in the GI Pennsylvania Derby, earning a career best 101 Beyer figure.

The odds-on favorite Saturday in his next start, he took command on the turn and took off from there to win by 11 3/4 lengths. He got a 108 Beyer for the race, which puts him among the upper echelon of 3-year-old colts. Numbers-wise, he has improved in each of his six career starts.

He'll be back in 2022, and it could be a big year for him.

It was also a big day for his sire, Constitution. Twenty six minutes after the completion of the Empire Classic, Independence Hall (Constitution) won the GII Hagyard Fayette S. at Keeneland in a romp, winning by 7 1/4 lengths. A horse who has had an up-and-down career, it was his first win of 2021 and, perhaps, a sign that he, too, will take his place among the top older dirt horses next year.

The Trend Continues: Record Handle at Keeneland

Total all-sources handle for the Keeneland fall meet was $181,009,626, an all-time record for the Lexington track. Last year's fall meet handled $160,207,916.

The “boutique” meets in racing continue to show no signs of slowing down. This year, Saratoga, Del Mar and Kentucky Downs also set new records for total handle.

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Got Stormy, Juju’s Map Highlight BC Workers Friday

Grade I winners Got Stormy (Get Stormy) and Juju's Map (Liam's Map) put in their final works for their respective Breeders' Cup races at Churchill Downs Friday morning.

MGISW turfer Got Stormy had her final career breeze at 7:30 a.m. under jockey Declan Carroll, cruising a half-mile in :48.60 in preparation for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

“We had some rain in the area but the track was really good so I decided to move her work up a day,” trainer Mark Casse's assistant David Carroll said. “Sometimes you see with older mares that they may take a step back from their younger campaigns but she has been doing great. I'm really excited the way she's coming into the Breeders' Cup. She's a very special mare to all of us.”

Got Stormy, along with about 12 other locally-based Breeders' Cup contenders, will ship to Del Mar on Monday.

Two hours earlier, GI Darley Alcibiades S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies contender Juju's Map clipped five furlongs in :59.60 with jockey Florent Geroux in the saddle outside of stablemate Matera (Tapit) (five furlongs, :59.80).

“Today's work was with an older horse in Matera,” Cox said. “She's a stakes winner in her own right so she's a pretty tough workmate. 'Juju' sat just off her and maybe broke about a length behind. She was well in hand throughout the work and it was exactly what we were looking for at this stage. This filly seemed to improve a little bit since her win in the Alcibiades, which is what these horses need to do this time of year leading into the Breeders' Cup.”

There are six Breeders' Cup contenders scheduled to work Saturday morning at Churchill Downs: Essential Quality (Tapit) (Classic), Knicks Go (Paynter) (Classic), Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) (Distaff), Rattle N Roll (Connect) (Juvenile), Ready to Purrform (Kitten's Joy) (Juvenile Turf) and Turnerloose (Nyquist) (Juvenile Fillies Turf).

Working toward the Breeders' Cup elsewhere in the country:

KEENELAND:
Trainer Chad Brown sent out three of his Keeneland-based runners who were pre-entered in the Nov. 5-6 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar for works on a fast main track Friday morning. The trio was headed by Peter Brant's Dunbar Road (Quality Road) (Distaff), who covered five furlongs in 1:00.40. Keeneland clockers caught her in splits of :13, :25.20, :36.80, 1:00.40, galloping out in 1:13.20. On Oct. 10, the 5-year-old was second to Letruska in Keeneland's GI Juddmonte Spinster S. Fellow Brant runner, Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}) (Mile), worked four panels in :49.80. Winner of the Oct. 9 GI First Lady posted fractions of :12.80, :24.40, :49.80 before galloping out in 1:03.60. Rounding out Brown's trio, Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron and Team Hanley's Haughty (Empire Maker) (Juvenile Fillies Turf), maiden winner Oct. 17, worked four furlongs in :47.60. Her fractions were :12.80, :24.60, :47.60 and out in 1:01.

Also, trainer Jack Sisterson worked a pair of Calumet Farm's Breeders' Cup pre-entrants on dirt: Channel Cat (English Channel) (Turf and Mile), four furlongs in :50, and Lexitonian (Speigtstown) (Sprint), four furlongs in :48.40. Brad Grady's Fast Boat (City Zip) (pre-entered in the Turf Sprint) worked three furlongs in :37 on dirt for trainer Joe Sharp.

BELMONT:
On Friday morning, Pletcher worked several Breeders' Cup contenders over the Belmont training track. Shadwell Stables' three-time Grade I-winner Malathaat (Curlin) breezed five-eighths in company with 3-year-old allowance-winning colt Vindictive in her final breeze for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

“She's outstanding. She looked great and seems to be in really good form,” Pletcher said.

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Life Is Good (Into Mischief), an easy last-out winner of the GII Kelso, breezed a half-mile in preparation for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

“He's an exceptional workhorse and very talented,” Pletcher said. “He did what we've become accustomed to seeing him do, which was put in an impressive move. He did it very easily.”

Red Oak Stable homebred Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), also targeting the Dirt Mile, recorded a half-mile breeze.

“It was a good solid work. He seems to have maintained form,” Pletcher said.

Spendthrift Farm's GII Vosburgh winner Following Sea (Runhappy) worked a solid half-mile, however, Pletcher indicated plans to contest the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint are still in flux.

“He did really well. He's been training great. I'll get with the Spendthrift guys and make a final decision, but the horse is doing well,” Pletcher said.

Working on Thursday for Pletcher, Bass Stables homebred Annapolis (War Front), a last-out winner of the GII Pilgrim S., worked in tandem with Nest (Curlin), clocking a half-mile in :50.26. Initially targeting the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Pletcher confirmed Annapolis has been sidelined due to a hind ankle chip.

“It's a minor injury and unfortunate timing,” Pletcher said. “We'll look forward to a spring and summer campaign.”

Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House Juvenile Fillies contender Nest most recently recorded a five-length debut win going 1 1/16 miles in September at Belmont.

“She worked well [Thursday] morning,” Pletcher said. “It's something we talked about after her debut. When the race came up a little bit of a shorter field, we felt like it was something worth taking a look at. She's a two-turn filly for sure, it's just a matter of if she has enough experience.”

Also working at Belmont Friday, Shortleaf Stable's GIII Matron S. winner Bubble Rock (More Than Ready, conditioned by Brad Cox, breezed a half-mile in :49.09 over the inner turf rated good in preparation for the GI Juvenile Fillies Turf. The homebred was piloted in her breeze by assistant trainer Dustin Dugas.

“I thought her breeze this morning went pretty well. There was just a little bit of give in it this morning and the turf had a nice bounce to it. We were pretty far out there with the dogs out,” Dugas said. “For a filly that's going to be stretching out for the first time, she did it right. She broke away from the pony and threw her ears up and really relaxed around the turn. She had a decent breeze thereafter down the lane and a good gallop out. I was happy with the way she did it.”

Dugas said Bubble Rock will jog one mile Saturday at Belmont before shipping to California Sunday.

Trainer Christophe Clement watched a trio of his Breeders' Cup contingent breeze over the Belmont Park inner turf led by Otter Bend Stable's dual Grade I winning Gufo (Declaration of War), third in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic three weeks ago at Belmont. The 4-year-old completed an easy half in :53.40 in preparation for the Turf.

“He looked good,” Clement said. “It was a lazy work, as usual, but he had a very strong work last week. He worked on his own. It was slow by design, but he looked well. He is very sound and he's ready to go.”

Jump Sucker Stable's GIII Futurity S. scorer Slipstream (More Than Ready) completed his final breeze for the Juvenile Turf, going a half-mile in :50.20.

Although Slipstream captured the Futurity, a “Win And You're In” for the five-furlong Juvenile Turf Sprint, Clement is opting for the one-mile Juvenile Turf with the colt.

“He worked on his own,” Clement said. “It was a slow work, but he finished very well and was moving well. He came back in good shape.”

Rounding out his Breeders' Cup-bound team, GISP Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) went an easy :54.20 in preparation for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Owned and bred by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, the took her debut going 1 1/16 miles in July at Saratoga and followed with a runner-up effort in the GI Natalma S. in September at Woodbine.

“She's very fit. She's running a week from today so it was an easy work, a two-minute lick and finished up a bit quicker,” Clement said.

Clement indicated his Breeders' Cup contenders are scheduled to depart on Sunday morning.

“[Their works] were slow by design, especially on the ground which I think it's very soft,” Clement said. “I was happy with all them. We just want to keep them happy and sound.”

Also breezing on Belmont's inner turf Friday, Klaravich Stables' GISW Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) [1:01.56] covered five-eighths in company with fellow GI Breeders' Cup Turf hopeful Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}) [1:01.96], who is owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso. Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael Kisber and Michael J. Caruso's Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) worked a solo half-mile in 50.98.

The Klaravich Stables-owned duo of Portfolio Company (Kitten's Joy) [1:02.96 – Juvenile Turf] and Consumer Spending (More Than Ready) [1:02.87 – Juvenile Fillies Turf] worked together through five-eighths.

Juddmonte's Pocket Square and Peter Brant's My Sister Nat (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) breezed five-eighths in 1:01.95 in company for the Filly and Mare Turf, while Peter Brant's Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) breezed a half-mile solo in :49.88 in preparation for the Mile. Brown also sent a number of Breeders' Cup hopefuls to breeze on the main track, including Jack Christopher (Munnings) [1:00.82, Juvenile], Verbal (Flintshire) [50.19, Juvenile Turf] and Royal Flag (Candy Ride {Arg}) [1:01.55, Distaff].

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior), trained by Kelly Breen, worked Friday over the dirt training track in preparation for the Sprint, while Treadway Racing Stable's homebred Grade II winner Sail By (Astern {Aus}), trained by Leah Gyarmati, breezed three-eighths in :38.09 over the inner turf in preparation for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

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Tamahere Supplemented to FTKNOV

Graded stakes winner Tamahere (Fr) (Wootton Bassett (GB) – Alatasarai (Ire), by Giant's Causeway) has been supplemented to the upcoming Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Catalogued as Hip 273, she will be consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by ELiTE, agent.

Tamahere began her career in her native France, where she was stakes placed at two and a stakes winner at three. Capturing her Stateside debut in the GII Sands Point S. for Chad Brown, she was second in the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. this term and won the Violet S. at Monmouth.

“Tamahere is a very exciting supplemental entry,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “Not only is she a graded stakes winner and Grade I-placed in the United States, but she's also a stakes winner in Europe. She's by one of the most exciting young sires in the world, beautifully bred, and just 4-years-old.”

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