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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