Jack Christopher | Horse Racing Free Tips

Brown’s Bevy Of Breeders’ Cup Hopefuls Work At Belmont

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown breezed a number of his Breeders' Cup contenders Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., including Grade 1 Champagne-winner Jack Christopher, who worked a half-mile in :49.05 over Big Sandy.

Brown, a 15-time Breeders' Cup winner, said Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud, and Peter Brant's well-regarded Munnings chestnut is on target for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on November 5 at Del Mar.

“He was great. He was in control the entire way and galloped out super. He came back good,” Brown said.

Brown said he's feeling good about his Breeders' Cup contingent, a number of which breezed over the inner turf Saturday at Belmont.

“A lot of them are coming into the race well,” Brown said. “These are tough races we're going in. The Breeders' Cup races are always that way but we have some shots in a number of races, so we'll see.”

Klaravich Stables' multiple Grade 1-winner Domestic Spending breezed five-eighths in 1:01.85 in company with Peter Brant's multiple Grade 1-winner Raging Bull.

“They went excellent this morning. Both horses are on target for the Breeders' Cup,” Brown said.

Domestic Spending, a 4-year-old Kingman gelding pointed to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf, completed his sophomore season with a win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in November at Del Mar in Del Mar, Calif.

He returned on May 1 to dead heat for victory with Colonel Liam in the Grade 1 Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs and completed a Grade 1 triple with a 2 3/4-length score over stablemate Tribhuvan in the Manhattan ahead of a closing second in the Grade 1 Mr. D on August 14 at Arlington Park.

“He breezed great today and galloped out strong. He's very fit,” Brown said.

Domestic Spending is one of three Breeders' Cup Turf contenders for Brown along with Tribhuvan and recent Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic-winner Rockemperor.

Brown said Tribhuvan [1:00.50] worked well this morning, traveling in company with Group 2-placed filly Nazuna [1:00.40].

Raging Bull, a 6-year-old son of Dark Angel, is pointed to the Breeders' Cup Mile following a closing third in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile on September 18 which was contested over good going.

“He's looking for really fast ground and I expect to get that at Del Mar,” Brown said.

Brown noted that he would pre-enter Blowout, recent winner of the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., to the Mile.

Peter Brant's My Sister Nat [:49.23] and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael J. Caruso's Orglandes [:49.26] worked a half-mile in company over the inner turf.

My Sister Nat captured the 11-furlong Grade 3 Waya last out on October 3 at Belmont and will travel the same distance at Del Mar on November 6 in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

“The mile and three-eighths is a good trip for her,” Brown said.

Juddmonte's Pocket Square [1:02.02], also on target for the Filly and Mare Turf, worked five-eighths in company with Swift Thoroughbreds', Madaket Stables, and Wonder Stables Tamahere [1:02.11] over the inner turf.

Pocket Square, a winner of 5-of-9 starts, captured the Grade 3 Athenia at nine furlongs over good Belmont turf on September 25.

“The filly is training pretty good. I'm going to pre-enter her in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and see what it looks like,” Brown said. “Her last race really changed my mind about her. I thought she ran good at that distance and the way she galloped out steady.

“If she's good enough or not, I'm not sure,” he added. “It's not a definite she's going but I want to take a look at it and see.”

Tamahere, last-out winner of the Violet over yielding Monmouth Park turf on September 25, is pointed to next Saturday's Grade 2 Noble Damsel.

Klaravich Stables' Portfolio Company, a 2-year-old Kitten's Joy bay, breezed a half-mile in :49.41 in company with General Ken, a recent private purchase for an ownership group led by Louis Lazzinnaro.

A maiden winner, Portfolio Company finished second in both the Grade 3 With Anticipation in September at Saratoga and the Grade 2 Pilgrim last out on October 3 at Belmont. He is targeting the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

General Ken, a Violence juvenile, earned a 74 Beyer for a front-running 7 1/4-length maiden score traveling a mile and seventy yards over good Delaware Park turf.

Brown said General Ken will target the $100,000 Awad, a 1 1/16-mile turf test on October 31 at Belmont.

“The horse has settled in nicely and is training along well,” Brown said. “His one win looked impressive. He came to us in good shape, so we'll see. I liked his breeze on the turf today.”

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf contender Consumer Spending, last-out winner of the Selima at Laurel Park, worked a half-mile in :50 flat over the Belmont main track.

Brown also confirmed that Royal Flag, last-out winner of the Grade 2 Beldame, will target the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Brown will send out a trio of contenders for Sunday's Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, led by defending champ Etoile along with Kalifornia Queen and Great Island.

Last year, a prominent Etoile captured the 10-furlong test over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course by a neck. The 5-year-old Siyouni mare has made just two starts this season, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley in April at Keeneland ahead of a closing second to returning rival Mutamakina in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly at Woodbine.

“She seems to like it up there and it made a lot of sense to let her defend her title there,” Brown said. “She made a nice run last time. She's training well and she's fresh. I expect her to run well.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pilot Etoile from post 2.

Brown said that Kalifornia Queen, a closing third last out in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga, is training well ahead of her first Grade 1 appearance in North America.

“She certainly is [improving]. I think she's sitting on her best race,” Brown said.

Flavien Prat retains the mount from post 4.

Brown will also be represented by Great Island [post 8, Rafael Hernandez], who captured the Grade 3 Matchmaker two starts back over firm Monmouth turf.

The E.P. Taylor, slated as Race 8 at 4:37 p.m., also features a pair of starters for Belmont-based trainer Christophe Clement in Mutamakina [post 6, Dylan Davis] and La Dragontea [post 10, Joel Rosario].

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Bloodlines: What A Fast Start Means, And Doesn’t Mean, For A Young Horse

In winning the premier events for 2-year-old colts on each coast in the U.S. over the weekend, Corniche (by Quality Road) and Jack Christopher (Munnings) made themselves more likely candidates for further glory in the championship event at the Breeders' Cup.

In the American Pharoah at Santa Anita, Corniche brought his unbeaten record to two, and in the Champagne at Belmont Park, Jack Christopher did the same.

Each was making his stakes debut after an impressive first-out victory. In the case of Corniche, he had won his first start at Del Mar on Sept. 4 by 4 1/4 lengths, racing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.01. Jack Christopher had won at first asking at Saratoga on Aug. 28 by 8 3/4 lengths, racing 6 furlongs in 1:09.85.

That each was an obviously talented young athlete who had been training well in the morning was further proven by each being the favorite in his first start.

Likewise, each has taken the step up in distance, and Corniche won the mile and a sixteenth American Pharoah and Jack Christopher the mile Champagne. Of the two other Grade 1-winning juvenile colts, Gunite (Gun Runner), the winner of the Hopeful, was fourth in the Champagne, and Pinehurst (Twirling Candy), the winner of the Del Mar Futurity, is training up to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Of those four, and a handful of others, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile would almost certainly be elected divisional championship. And just so, a statistical and inherently variable proposition is made to appear linear and sequential.

The development of horses is not random. A nickel claimer from Finger Lakes doesn't show up and win the Champagne, for instance. But neither is it lacking in variability or chance. From the 1,500 most progressive premium yearling colts a year ago, we are not actually down to “just four.”

This quartet, right now, appear to be the most ready and capable of upper echelon of colts. Some of their cadre aren't yet fully fit, or fully hardened, or mentally seasoned – for example – to tackle Grade 1 company, yet.

Some of those will get to the Grade 1 ranks. For some, it will be later this year; others will rise to the higher level at three, and a few will be persevered with and become Grade 1 performers at four and five. Much of it, so much of it, depends on what their trainers and owners think of them and how the colts respond to those perceptions.

And, even among the colts who are knocking the barn down and burning up the track right now, the difference between days or weeks, the subtleties of trips and works or feet and digestion, contribute to the final results on the racetrack at the premium level, in particular.

Looking back at the last 10 winners of the American Pharoah, for example, two won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Game Winner (2018) and Nyquist (2015) were the two, and eight did not; that did not mean they weren't exceptionally good horses, maybe even the best of horses.

The colt for whom the race is named, for instance, won the race when it was called the FrontRunner in 2014 but was unable to race in the Juvenile due to a foot problem. American Pharoah came back the next year to become a legend. In his stead at the 2014 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, FrontRunner third Texas Red (Afleet Alex) had a tremendous day and won the event.

Looking at the Champagne with the same point of view, only one winner in the last decade, Shanghai Bobby (Harlan's Holiday) in 2012, went on to win the Juvenile; so winning one of the great preps is not a simple, straight-line, sequential process to arriving at a winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and probable divisional champion.

At this level, each race is effectively a coin toss, using a handful of coins, and only the very best of the very best can overcome the odds time after time to win and win again and again. That is why we run races; to test the participants and effectively gauge their comparative abilities.

And, as we race horses fewer and fewer times, we have a less-accurate gauge of their abilities, as well as their toughness, durability, versatility, and enthusiasm for sport. This situation is contrary to the best interests of the sport, the fans, the bettors, the racetracks, the breeders, the owners, and the breed itself.

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F-T Kentucky October Yearlings Catalogue Now Online

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 1,586 yearlings for its Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, to be held on October 25-28, in Lexington, Kentucky. The four continuous sessions, conducted on Monday-Thursday, will begin each day at 10 a.m.

“Kentucky October has developed into one of the most important yearling sales on the calendar,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “This year's catalogue is outstanding, with every current top 25 ranked sire represented by multiple yearlings. Buyers will find tremendous quality no matter what their budget.”

Sale graduates continue to have success at the highest levels, notching nearly 200 stakes wins or placings in 2021. These include current stars Hot Rod Charlie, winner of the GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 25, and undefeated 2-year-old colt Jack Christopher, who captured the GI Champagne S. at Belmont this past weekend.

The catalogue may now be viewed online, and will also be available via the equineline sales catalogue app. Print catalogues will be available on-site sales week in Lexington.

Online bidding and phone bidding services will be available.

The post F-T Kentucky October Yearlings Catalogue Now Online appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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‘Why Not?’: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Likely Destination For Champagne Winner Jack Christopher

Rising star Jack Christopher passed the Grade 1 test with flying colors in Saturday's $500,000 Champagne, earning a 93 Beyer with a 2 3/4-length win in the one-turn mile for juveniles.

In victory, the chestnut son of Munnings secured a “Win and You're In” entry to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Jack Christopher gave trainer Chad Brown his third Champagne victory, previously scoring with Practical Joke [2016] and Complexity [2018]. Brown finished second in the 2017 Champagne with subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old Good Magic.

“We were obviously very pleased with the race,” said Brown's Belmont-based assistant Dan Stupp. “He ate up well last night and we're happy with how he looked this morning.”

Jack Christopher, owned by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter Brant, arrived at the Champagne off a sharp 8 3/4-length triumph going six furlongs on Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course.

Jack Christopher will face a new test going two turns with a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar on the horizon.

“The way he was able to relax and rate and with his running style, why not? He didn't do anything that would stop us from trying. He handled the extra ground very well,” Stupp said.

Earlier on the card, Brown saddled juvenile fillies Kinchen and McKulick to a respective second and third when chasing a leisurely pace in the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo.

Klaravich Stables' McKulick earned black type in her first graded stakes attempt following a 1 /16-mile victory at first asking on Aug. 8 over the Mellon turf at Saratoga over stable mate Consumer Spending, who won the Selima at Laurel Park on Saturday.

Still a maiden, Kinchen arrived off a narrow second at maiden level to Hail To, who finished fifth in the Miss Grillo.

“Obviously, we're disappointed to not get the win,” Stupp said. “The way the race set up and the way the turf was playing they came up short yesterday, but they made good accounts for themselves. They both looked good this morning.”

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