Already a four-time champion trainer, Chad Brown became a two-time Classic-winning conditioner Saturday at Pimlico when his Early Voting (Gun Runner) scored in the GI Preakness S., five years after Brown took down the Preakness using a similar formula with Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music). Tuesday, Brown sat down with the crew of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland from his headquarters in Saratoga Springs as the Green Group Guest of the Week to talk about his decision to skip the GI Kentucky Derby with Early Voting paying off, why he's in favor of keeping Triple Crown races' spacing the way it is, what's next for his other top sophomores Zandon (Upstart) and Jack Christopher (Munnings) and more.
Asked about his recent comments in support of the Triple Crown's current calendar alignment, somewhat surprising given that Brown runs his horses less frequently than average, he said, “I prefer to space my horses out and give them rest, but my answer was really based on the history of the sport. When I got into horse racing right here in Saratoga Springs, I was drawn to the rich, rich history and prestige of the sport. I'm really an old-fashioned guy. I like to stick to the basics. I'm not really in favor of too much change at the top, in the real pillars of the sport, meaning Triple Crown races and older track settings. I don't like changing the names of stakes races. Ironically, I'm in favor of changing things and adapting over time in my training system, but the things that most define the history of the sport, I would leave alone.”
Two weeks ago, when I wrote the column “First Crops Yield Derby and Oaks Winners,” I'd expected to write about Taiba (Gun Runner) and Secret Oath (Arrogate), the two I'd liked the most in the Gl Kentucky Derby and Gl Kentucky Oaks, respectively. I'd spoken mainly about those two on Steve Byk's popular SiriusXM program “At the Races,” and my feeling was that Gun Runner in particular was on a trajectory to get a first-crop Classic winner. His start at stud had been exceptional with his first juveniles, and the momentum was carrying forward with his 3-year-olds, headed by Taiba, who'd won the Gl Santa Anita Derby in only his second start; Cyberknife, who'd accounted for the Gl Arkansas Derby from a field that included Secret Oath; and Early Voting, who'd lost the Gll Wood Memorial in a photo to Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) in only his third start. Instead, my column was about Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and Secret Oath.
Last week, Byk asked for my opinion on the Gl Preakness. My choices, I told him, were Early Voting (Gun Runner) and Secret Oath. There were plenty of reasons and handicapping angles for which to like Early Voting, entering the Preakness on a similar path traveled by his connections' 2017 Preakness winner Cloud Computing, a first-crop Classic winner for Maclean's Music. But my primary reason for picking Early Voting, like Taiba in the Derby, was all about Gun Runner. “I just think, Steve, that Gun Runner is such a good stallion, and he's going to get a first-crop Classic winner,” I'd said.
Early Voting defeated race favorite Epicenter (Not This Time) to land the Classic, his first top-level win.
After the race, Steve Asmussen, who trains Preakness and Derby runner-up Epicenter and conditioned Gun Runner, told the Pimlico media team: “The silver lining on that is Gun Runner is probably the greatest sire of all time. He's incredible.”
That's hyperbole, of course, but Gun Runner is certainly on a special trajectory, and who knows? Before Early Voting, Gun Runner had already sired four Grade l winners from his first crop, and now he has an astonishing five, with plenty of racing yet to come for his 3-year-olds, who could become even better at four and five, as he did. Gun Runner didn't win his first top-level race until late in his 3-year-old season, and at four he was outstanding, winning four Grade l events. At five, he won the Gl Pegasus World Cup in January before entering stud at Three Chimneys, which campaigned the horse with Winchell Thoroughbreds, the owner of Epicenter.
Could Gun Runner end up with six or seven Grade l winners from his first crop? It's a jaw-dropping possibility, but having five already is heady enough. With the massive books stallions cover these days, it's unfair to compare horses from different eras purely by first-crop Grade I winners, but suffice to say Gun Runner has sired more of them than any other active sire in North America, which includes such outstanding stallions as Into Mischief, Tapit, War Front, Curlin, Uncle Mo, Quality Road, Speightstown, Medaglia d'Oro, and his own sire, Candy Ride (Arg), who got four in his first crop.
In a different era, Gainesway's Blushing Groom (Fr), a foal of 1974, sired five first-crop Grade/Group 1 winners, and in Europe, the iconic Sadler's Wells, a foal of 1981, got six. More recently, Sadler's Wells's son Montjeu (Ire), a foal of 1996, got five Northern Hemisphere-bred Group 1 winners from his first crop, and Frankel (GB), who was born in 2008 and is by Sadler's Wells's greatest sire son, Galileo (Ire), got six. This isn't necessarily a comprehensive list, but it paints the picture of the company that Gun Runner is rubbing shoulders with as his stud career unfolds, and it's safe to say he's sired his first five Grade l winners quicker than any of them. All of these named here with five or more also sired a first-crop Classic winner.
Sire Line
Most stallions tend to have their best results in their first crops. Three Chimneys is certainly aware of this, having stood Slew o' Gold, who got four Grade l winners in his first crop and nothing thereafter approaching that level of success. Exceptional stallions, however, will gut it out with their second, third, and fourth crops and rebound as they get better mares again.
Likewise, exceptional sires will sometimes appear from unlikely branches of major stallions. This was the case with California-bred Tiznow, the broodmare sire of Early Voting. Tiznow was sired by the stakes-placed California stallion Cee's Tizzy, a son of the In Reality horse Relaunch.
More recently, Uncle Mo is such an example. His California-bred sire Indian Charlie was by California-based In Excess (Ire), a son of the Caro (Ire) stallion Siberian Express.
Both Caro and In Reality were outstanding sires who had a number of top sons at stud, but the existence of their lines in North America now runs through obscure branches that resuscitated them after the bigger names failed to carry on the lines. The same paradigm is true for Gun Runner, who traces to Fappiano through the sequence Candy Ride/Ride the Rails/Cryptoclearance/Fappiano.
Fappiano is mainly represented in North America through Unbridled's sire sons Empire Maker and Unbridled's Song, both of whom are now dead. Empire Maker's son Pioneerof the Nile, also dead, is the sire of American Pharoah, while Unbridled's Song's son Arrogate, also dead, is the sire of Secret Oath. Candy Ride, who entered stud for only $10,000, improbably brought his branch of Fappiano to the fore to compete with the established lines of Fappiano, and now his son Gun Runner is blowing it up to a level that may surpass the tail-male influences of Empire Maker and Unbridled's Song. And Gun Runner isn't the only one; Candy Ride is also the sire of the excellent Twirling Candy–responsible for last year's Preakness winner Rombauer– plus a bunch of other young stallions with runners on the way.
Here's something else that makes this story even more interesting: Bred by Haras Abolengo, Candy Ride, who isn't a particularly eye-catching or sizable individual, had several veterinary issues and twice failed examinations before selling to Gumercindo Alonzo for the equivalent of $12,000 as a yearling. Nonetheless, he was an exceptional if brittle racehorse, undefeated in three starts in Argentina and three starts in North America.
At stud, Candy Ride had a great affinity for mares with Storm Cat in their pedigrees, and Gun Runner, who's from a Giant's Causeway mare, is one such example.
This same affinity for Storm Cat is evident in Gun Runner's early success as well. Early Voting's second dam is by Storm Cat, who's also in the pedigrees of two other Grade l winners by the stallion. In fact, five of Gun Runner's Graded winners have Storm Cat in their pedigrees, and altogether six of his 11 black-type winners do.
After Gun Runner was first retired to Three Chimneys, I had the opportunity to inspect him and was struck by how balanced he was, so much so that he didn't appear to the eye to be as tall as the 16.2 hands he is. At the time, he was five and had furnished significantly from his days as a somewhat immature-looking 3-year-old, but nonetheless he carried some refinement to him that seemed as if it would complement more muscular physiques, like the ones provided by Storm Cat. It made sense then, and judging by results, it makes sense now.
Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.
Most of us have voted early, and voted often, when it comes to the biggest impact recently made by a new stallion–and now, it seems, we've celebrated his official inauguration. Because a Classic winner for Gun Runner rounds out the narrative that so excited everybody last year, when his first juveniles showed such startling speed and precocity relative to his own Horse of the Year campaign, around two turns as a 4-year-old.
Sure, Gun Runner himself managed to win his first two (of three) juvenile starts, and then added the two big Fair Grounds trials before making the GI Kentucky Derby podium. But it was only in maturity that he reached his full potential, streaking through five Grade Is by an aggregate 27 1/2 lengths. Given the many Classic influences in his pedigree, then, he was surely only getting started when a GI Hopeful winner and champion 2-year-old filly contributed to a first-crop earnings record of $4.3 million. Sure enough, this spring Gun Runner had already followed through with winners of the GI Arkansas Derby and GI Santa Anita Derby, and now Early Voting has sealed the deal in the GI Preakness S.
We know that a ruthless price is exacted from young stallions if failing to capitalize on the one opportunity they tend to be given by commercial breeders, and even Gun Runner–despite having absolutely lived up to his billing at the yearling sales–was trimmed by Three Chimneys last year from $70,000 to $50,000, just to keep him in the game pending the launch of his first runners. But while many peers have meanwhile begun the usual, inexorable slide, he had already been hoisted to $125,000 for this spring and has been quick to reassure investors that his advent among the elite will be as lasting as it has been unmistakable.
By this stage, then, nobody still needs to be told that Gun Runner is a landslide success. But let's not forget the second name on the ticket. Because the other half of his genetic equation is certainly going to assist Early Voting, as and when he gets the chance to open up the next frontier for Gun Runner–as a sire of sires.
Pitch it short or drive it long, Early Voting's maternal family will sit very prettily in a stallion brochure. His dam is a Tiznow half-sister to an outstanding stallion in Speightstown; and full sister to a highly accomplished runner in the tragic Irap. And the quality of this dynasty–which eventually unspools, as seventh dam, to the Virginia matriarch Hildene–can be judged by reminding ourselves that Speightstown, though a first foal, brought $2 million as a yearling.
The line admittedly tapers pretty thinly by the time it reaches Hildene, foaled in 1938 and a foundation mare at Christopher T. Chenery's Meadow Farm, eventually famed for the nativity of Secretariat. Though Hildene (like her first two dams) was mediocre on the track, and apparently a bleeder, her five stakes winners included Hill Prince, Horse of the Year in 1950; and First Landing, champion juvenile of 1958.
First Flush was one of Hildene's less distinguished foals, unplaced in a light career. But if that seemed unsurprising in view of her paternity–her sire had won steeplechases in France–the fact is that she went on to prove a fertile source of stakes performers and/or producers. These included Copper Canyon, whose sire Bryan G. had been selected after coming up with triple champion Cicada from one of First Flush's half-sisters. Three of Copper Canyon's daughters would go on to produce Grade I winners, including an unraced daughter of the great Buckpasser named Insilca who delivered GI Turf Classic Inv. scorer Turk Passer (Turkoman).
Insilca's daughter by Bold Ruler's son Chieftain, Silken Doll, ran up a sequence of four as a sophomore (crowned with a stakes win) before in turn becoming quite a useful producer. Her foals included a Group 1-placed juvenile (admittedly regressive after) in Britain by Silver Hawk; the dam of GII Indiana Derby winner/GI King's Bishop runner-up Star Dabbler (Saint Ballado); and a Storm Cat filly named Silken Cat, whose three processional wins round Woodbine qualified her as Canada's leading 2-year-old filly of 1995.
Silken Cat, who had been bred in Quebec by Ferme Du Bois-Vert and sold to Sam-Son Farm as a yearling, was at this point acquired by Aaron and Marie Jones but had to be retired after a single sophomore start (and first defeat) in California. Any disappointment was soon assuaged, however, when her first yearling colt, by Gone West, brought that $2 million from Eugene Melnyk. Though Speightstown took his time to repay his investment, at one stage surfacing only twice in 30 months, he put it all together as champion sprinter at six, bowing out in style at the Lone Star Breeders' Cup.
On the face of it, Silken Cat then appeared to produce a series of costly duds. There was a winner in Malaysia, but that was it. Three never even made the starting gate: a $1.5 million sister to Speightstown; a $1.75 million Tiznow filly; and a colt by Unbridled's Song, plainly unraceable, discarded for just $8,000 as a 2-year-old at the Keeneland November Sale. By the time the very difficult delivery of a Tiznow colt caused her retirement, 16 years after she had produced Speightstown, Silken Cat had burned enough fingers for her final son to fail to reach his yearling reserve at $140,000.
Pinhooker Bobby Dodd did a deal, however, and managed to advance the colt's value to $300,000 at OBS the following March. The very same day, Silken Cat lay down peacefully in her paddock at Taylor Made and died. Her work, albeit protracted and fitful, was done: 11 yearlings sold for over $8.5 million.
Her final bequest, this Tiznow colt, was always campaigned like a talented horse by Doug O'Neill and a shock success in the GII Blue Grass S. showed why. Irap later added the GIII Ohio Derby and GIII Indiana Derby before making the podium in the GI Travers, only to succumb to laminitis that fall.
In the meantime, two of those ostensible “dud” siblings have enhanced their dam's legacy in astounding fashion. The Unbridled's Song colt written off for $8,000 was bought by John McKee, who offered him to West Virginia breeders at Beau Ridge Farm as a half-brother to Speightstown. Fiber Sonde has since accumulated 21 black-type winners, two at graded stakes level, including the 15-for-27 millionaire and Charles Town stalwart Runnin'toluvya.
And then there was that very expensive Tiznow filly, named Amour d'Ete, unraced after her acquisition as a yearling by incoming Three Chimneys chairman Goncalo Borges Torrealba at the 2013 September Sale. Evidently a stunning physical, she apparently suffered a fungal infection in training that nearly cost her an eye. The Three Chimneys team did try to cash her in, with a Super Saver cover at the November Sale of 2016, but in the end held their nerve and retained her at $725,000.
That has turned out to be an inspired gamble. True, her daughter by Super Saver was sold as a yearling for barely a tenth of that sum, at $75,000, and only won a maiden claimer. But how Ten Strike Racing must be congratulating themselves after claiming this filly for $50,000 at Churchill in November! Because she now finds herself half-sister to a Preakness winner.
Things had started to turn round for Amour d'Ete immediately after she was retained at the November Sale, her full brother Irap coming good the following spring. And fortunately her 2019 foal by the farm's rookie stallion Gun Runner (apparently still immature when making $200,000 at the Keeneland September Sale, to join Klaravich Stables) was striking enough for her to be bred straight back.
As a result, Three Chimneys find themselves not only with both the sire and dam of a Preakness winner, but also a full sister–along with several other new shoots on this long-flourishing family tree, Amour d'Ete having otherwise produced only fillies. Her first foal, by Distorted Humor, required patience but did break her maiden stylishly at four; after Early Voting's sister, now two, came a yearling by another recent breakout sire in Constitution; while just last month the farm welcomed a filly by Volatile.
So let's now just take a step back and consider the mating that produced a Preakness winner. Apart from sheer quality of blood–both Gun Runner and Amour d'Ete, after all, are real aristocrats–the first thing that stands out is a nice echo behind Silken Cat, blue hen as she has unmistakably become, and Gun Runner's great damsire Giant's Causeway. Because Early Voting's second dam, as noted, is by Storm Cat out of Chieftain's daughter Silken Doll; and Giant's Causeway, also by Storm Cat, was out of a granddaughter of a Chieftain mare.
While his contribution to the package is plainly limited, Chieftain is a wholesome kind of brand to find top and bottom. Though he never established his own branch of the Bold Ruler line, he was a conduit not just for speed and durability but for some regal genes: he was a half-brother to Tom Rolfe, while their dam was out of How, the Kentucky Oaks winner whose sister delivered Sham.
How sire Princequillo tends to recur in almost any worthwhile American pedigree and this one is no exception. For instance, he also helps to lace together the very familiar pedigree of Quiet Dance, whose mating with Giant's Causeway produced the dam of Gun Runner. (Quiet Dance, of course, also gave us Saint Liam by Saint Ballado.) Quiet Dance's second dam was by a son of Princequillo, while the famously close inbreeding to Dr. Fager in her sire Quiet American was in each case via daughters of Princequillo's prolific producer Cequillo.
Turning to those opposing strands of Storm Cat, his damsire Secretariat–besides being another son of Bold Ruler–introduces more Princequillo through his dam Somethingroyal. For the little it may be worth, moreover, Tiznow's damsire Seattle Song combines a Bold Ruler line with a mare by a son of Princequillo.
Doubtless these are fairly random tints to pick from a complex palette. In broader brushstrokes, however, we can say that Early Voting's prestigious family has had the benefit of commensurate seeding throughout–first four dams by Tiznow, Storm Cat, Chieftain and Buckpasser–and that there won't be a chink in his genetic armor when he goes to stud. His four grandparents are a developing sire of sires in Candy Ride (Arg); a half-sister to Saint Liam; a broodmare sire now up to 29 graded stakes winners, following We the People (Constitution) only the previous weekend; and the dam of Speightstown, Irap and Fiber Sonde.
To me, that's what makes a copper-bottomed pedigree: when all genetic contributors have established their worth through horses other than those who actually put them on the page in front of you.
Gun Runner's first crop has already drawn alongside that of Speightstown, which eventually mustered five Grade I winners. These largely proved typical of Speightstown's stock overall, however, in tending to need time to mature. For his half-sister by another fairly slow burner in Tiznow to have produced a Classic winner, then, certainly attests to the striking dynamism we're seeing in Gun Runner.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The previous Preakness winner in Early Voting's maternal line, Hill Prince, was also from his sire's debut crop. As we've just seen in this pedigree, that was the start of a road that led to one of the commanding summits of the modern breed. If Gun Runner can go on and become even half as influential as Princequillo, then he will indeed be looking at greatness.
The story is a familiar one. Seth Klarman, Chad Brown and Jose Ortiz teaming up for a win with a lightly-raced colt in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. In 2016, the duo entered the Classic with a fresh horse, and played the spoiler when Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) upended Classic Empire to take the GI Preakness S. Fast forward to 2022, history repeated itself with the same connections snagging Pimlico's marquee race with Early Voting (Gun Runner). The colt's victory also provided a well-deserved birthday gift for his owner, who grew up three blocks from Pimlico.
“I just wanted to say how happy I am to deliver a Classic victory to one of my best friends, Seth Klarman, on his birthday,” said Brown. “It's really memorable for me.”
Klarman was also cognizant, and appreciative, of the forces propelling him back into the winner's circle on Preakness day.
“Cloud Computing was a once in a lifetime horse and now I have it twice in a lifetime which is really hard to believe it could happen again,” he said. “Only with Chad.”
Armagnac (Quality Road), a front-running winner in his most recent start at Santa Anita, didn't alter the script and went straight to the front as Ortiz opted to ease Early Voting back to second, rather than contending for supremacy, about two lengths behind. Meanwhile, favored Epicenter (Not This Time) broke cleanly but was soon pinched back by the converging duo of Happy Jack (Oxbow) and Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator), costing the favorite valuable ground. Also encountering issues early, Secret Oath (Arrogate) was also affected by the errant Happy Jack, forcing her to take up position at the back of the field going into the first turn. With the frontrunner gifted a soft :24.32 opening quarter, Ortiz opted to keep the 5-1 chance in close contact as they carved out a slightly faster half in :47.44. A motionless Ortiz, who peeked under his shoulder to see who might be coming along, finally nudging the colt into action, taking over from the fading leader turning for home. In control from there, the colt had plenty left in the tank despite drifting outward, and while Epicenter mounted a gallant run up along the inside late, he was unable to get closer than 1 1/4 lengths to the winner at the wire. Creative Minister (Creative Cause), who was supplemented to the race for $150,000, closed to be 2 1/4 lengths back in third. The filly, sent off at 5-1 facing the boys, crossed the wire in fourth.
It was the second win on the afternoon for triumvirate after Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) won the GIII Gallorette S.
“Yeah, he is a very good horse out of the gate,” explained Ortiz. “He always has been. He broke well, and that was the main thing. Break good and go forward. We knew that Armagnac had speed, and he never has passed a horse on his right, and we knew he was probably going to go into the lead, and he did, but we were ready for it. We executed the plan perfectly.”
“On the back side, it just felt like we had been drilling in the morning. We had been working him just next to a horse, and he was very relaxed. I was very confident passing the 5/8 pole. I knew I was in a good spot. I took a peek back. Nobody was there. I knew my horse was ready.
He added, “I had the trip I wanted. We planned it out, we executed it with perfection, and we came out top.”
Recipe for Success
In front for most of the way, Early Voting came home a 1 1/2-length winner in his Dec. 18 debut before returning to the South Ozone Park oval with a front-running score in the GIII Withers S. going nine furlongs in the mud Feb. 5. Well supported for the Apr. 9 GII Wood Memorial, the bay had to settle for second behind Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), who got up in the nick of time to catch him at the wire.
“When we've been working the horse We give him a target, and he rates nice. He catches them and finishes them off well,” said Brown, explaining the colt's latest defeat. “I was convinced in the Wood that he was waiting on horses which is why he got beat. He got beat by a good horse, don't get me wrong, with a good trip, but when you are doing this long enough, you can tell a tired horse from a horse that's waiting on horses. And I can see it in his work sometimes as well.”
Explaining the decision to bypass the Kentucky Derby with both of his Preakness winners, Brown explained, “With both horses it's important to know that they were coming out of the Wood, so [we gave] them time. But they're lightly-raced horses. It's not like a horse that we gave time out of the Wood that also had three starts at two and it's their sixth or seventh [lifetime] start. This a lightly-raced horse. In both cases, the Wood was only their third start.”
He continued, “So when you start participating in the Kentucky Derby enough now, you realize what a tough race it is with 20 horses. As the trainer, you have to deal with the aftermath when it doesn't work out. And sometimes, it's not pretty. Those horses need time physically or mentally, and it can really cost a good part of your 3-year-old year if you swing and miss. You could ship all the way over there or draw terrible weather. You name it..I haven't won the [Derby], but we've had a couple of close calls, and I'm a student of it. I feel like you have to have a horse with some experience, and you have to be prepared for a bad post or a bump here or there or a wet track or something.
This horse just didn't have the experience. He is out there on loose leads. He didn't have dirt in his face really. A nice horse, but to throw him in a 20-horse field would not have worked out well for him, I don't believe. It really wasn't that hard of a decision.”
Looking down the road, Brown hopes to have the colt ready to add another Classic later this summer, this time in his neck of the woods.
“[We'll aim for] a race like the [GI] Travers S. [at Saratoga],” said Brown. “I know it's a tick farther, but I don't believe he will have any trouble getting the mile and a quarter. Growing up just 20 minutes from Saratoga, Baltimore native, that was his race today, the Travers would be for me, so that would be really at the top of the list. But there will be some racing before that. We'll get him back to Belmont, assess him, train him a bit, and then start to map out a campaign that, hopefully, leads us to the Midsummer Derby.”
New York, New York
While repeating a Preakness victory for his connections, Early Voting also mirrored the feat accomplished by Cloud Computing in the 2016 renewal of the Classic race. And both colts employed a similar road to victory. While Early Voting took his first two starts, including his initial graded appearance in the Withers, Cloud Computing won his Big A debut, but was runner-up in that season's GIII Gotham S. before finishing third in the Wood. However, despite the subtle differences, both colts sought a Preakness win through the Empire State.
“Cloud Computing was another horse that wintered up [in New York],” he said. “Not only did both of them run in the Wood, but they didn't even go to Florida. It can be done, and I think it just depends on the horse and always just being aware of your environment where you are training these horses, and New York is a good environment.”
Underscoring why remaining in New York over the winter was the right move for his colt, Brown was pragmatic.
“He stayed in New York because he is that kind of make-up,” he said. “He was lightly raced. I didn't want to interrupt his schedule. Sometimes you ship horses down to Florida that are just getting started, and then you have to adjust to ironically the humidity and heat and such when he is just getting going. The weather looked good, so I left him there.”
No 'I' in Team
The relationship between Ortiz and Brown goes far back, and is laden with victory. However, according to Brown, it is the work ethic between professionals that makes the partnership special.
“He rode Zandon [Upstart] in New Orleans [third in the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds Feb. 19], and he had ridden Early Voting, in the Withers. [They were both scheduled to run on the same day in the [GI Toyota] Blue Grass [S.] and the Wood Memorial [both Apr. 9], I just chose he is going to go ride Early Voting, and I made a change on Zandon [to Flavien Prat]. So I called him to tell him, and he never complained about it. He said, 'Boss, I'll go where you tell me to go.' That's it. He was happy to ride Early Voting. It's hard to be taken off Zandon when they're on the same day because we knew that horse was probably going to go win the Blue Grass and go to the [Kentucky] Derby as one of the favorites. That's how he is. He said, 'I'll go where you tell me to go.'”
Brown continued, “He didn't win the Wood, but it was our feeling that's his horse. He went there for us that day, and I felt that's going to remain his horse. It was never even a thought after the horse got beat to make a change. He went up there and rode him for us, and he rode him brilliantly. Talk about being a team player.”
“I saw the relationship developing with those two. I wasn't sure he was a Derby horse, but I was sure he was a good horse and a Grade I horse. I just know that's a partnership that I want to continue growing, developing that horse, and then I could figure out where I am with Zandon. That's really what it came down to.”
Pedigree Notes: Gun Runner, the runaway leading first-crop sire based at Three Chimneys, continued the same trend in 2022, leading his U.S.-based contemporaries in worldwide earnings. With Early Voting's Classic win at Pimlico Saturday, the colt became the fifth Grade I winner for the Three Chimneys stallion.
His unraced dam–a $1.75-million KEESEP yearling in 2013–is a full-sister to 2017 GII Blue Grass S. winner and MGISP Irap (Tiznow), as well as a half-sister to champion and leading sire Speightstown (Gone West). They all stem from Canadian champion Silken Cat, tracing back to 1950 Broodmare of the Year Hildene (Bubbling Over), Silken Cat's fifth dam. Amour d'Ete has a 2-year-old full-sister to Early Voting, a yearling filly by Constitution, and was bred back to Volatile. Amour d'Ete's pensioned sire, Tiznow, is the broodmare sire of 52 black-type winners, including 2020 Classic winner Tiz the Law (Constitution).
Saturday, Pimlico PREAKNESS S.-GI, $1,650,000, Pimlico, 5-21, 3yo, 1 3/16m, 1:54.54, ft.
1–EARLY VOTING, 126, c, 3, by Gun Runner 1st Dam: Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow 2nd Dam: Silken Cat, by Storm Cat 3rd Dam: Silken Doll, by Chieftain 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Klaravich
Stables, Inc.; B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $990,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0,
$1,311,500. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Epicenter, 126, c, 3, Not This Time–Silent Candy, by Candy
Ride (Arg). ($260,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Winchell
Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Westwind Farms (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen. $330,000.
3–Creative Minister, 126, c, 3, Creative Cause–Tamboz, by Tapit. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($180,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Fern Circle
Stables, Back Racing, LLC and Magdalena Racing; B-Dell
Ridge Farm, LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $181,500.
Margins: 1 1/4, 2 1/4, 2 3/4. Odds: 5.70, 1.20, 10.00.
Also Ran: Secret Oath, Skippylongstocking, Simplification, Armagnac, Happy Jack, Fenwick. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
