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Brown Pleased With Viadera Win In Ballston Spa, Points Jack Christopher To Champagne

Chad Brown saddled a pair of winners Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with Viadera scoring in the $400,000 Grade 2 Ballston Spa and Jack Christopher impressing on debut to extend the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer's meet-leading win total to 32 [eight more than Mike Maker and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher] heading into Day 34 of the 40-day summer meet.

Juddmonte homebred Viadera, a 5-year-old daughter of Bated Breath, was one of three entrants in the six-horse field along with pacesetter Tamahere [4th] and Kalifornia Queen [3rd].

Tamahere set strong splits of :22.60, :47.55, and 1:12.12 on the firm inner turf as Viadera saved ground in third under Joel Rosario. Viadera advanced up the rail through the final turn and angled out in the stretch run to reel in her stablemate and hold off the late charge of High Opinion.

Viadera, who capped her 2020 with a first Grade 1 score in the Matriarch at Del Mar, entered Saturday's test from a troubled fourth in the De La Rose on August 8 at the Spa.

“She had so much trouble in her first start of the year here and I was proud of her to come back on short rest and still get it done,” Brown said.

Viadera is likely to target the $400,000 Grade 1 First Lady on October 9 at Keeneland.

Jim Bakker and Gerald Isbister's Jack Christopher earned a 92 Beyer for his winning debut in a six-furlong maiden special weight for juveniles, powering to an 8 3/4-length score as the even-money favorite.

The Munnings chestnut, a $135,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, exited post 5 in the seven-horse field under Jose Ortiz and settled in second position before taking command.

“I was very pleased. The word was out. He had worked well and he ran to his works, which is always a relief for a trainer,” Brown said.

Brown said Jack Christopher will point to the $500,000 Grade 1 Champagne on October 2 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., a one-turn mile offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Brown saddled Royal Flag and Dunbar Road to respective third and fourth-place finishes Saturday in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti.

Royal Flag, a 5-year-old Candy Ride chestnut, entered from a score in the Grade 3 Shuvee on July 25 at the Spa, while Dunbar Road, a 5-year-old Quality Road bay, was looking to secure her first win since taking the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap last July.

While multiple Grade 1-winner Letruska won the nine-furlong test gate-to-wire, Royal Flag closed willingly to complete the trifecta, a head in front of Dunbar Road, who was forced in at the start under Flavien Prat, and had to rally six-wide down the lane.

“Dunbar Road had a bit of an unfortunate trip as she fell a little far out of it after missing the break and went quite wide,” Brown said. “Royal Flag had her normal trip that worked out just fine. I was proud of both of their efforts. A really great filly won the race.”

Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta's Miles D, a sophomore son of Curlin, garnered a career-best 100 Beyer for his third-place effort in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers. The lightly-race Curlin chestnut, a $470,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, graduated at second asking in June at Belmont and followed with a strong runner-up effort to Dynamic One in the nine-furlong Curlin on July 30 at the Spa.

Brown said he was pleased with the effort.

“He's only run four times and he might be a little bit better at a mile and an eighth,” Brown said.

Brown also confirmed Klaravich Stables' Technical Analysis, last-out winner of the Grade 2 Lake Placid on August 21, will point to the $500,000 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on October 15 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

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Viadera Outlasts High Opinion In Ballston Spa

Chad Brown continued his winning ways in the first graded stakes on the Travers Day card at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. With three horses entered in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa, Brown claimed two of the top three spots, with Viadera taking the stakes for 4-year-olds and up by a nose while Kalifornia Queen finished third.

With a rain shower putting a brief damper on the day's festivities, the field of six broke evenly, with Tamahere, Brown's third starter, taking the lead over Platinum Paynter and Viadera. Tamahere and Platinum Paynter were several lengths ahead early, setting fractions of :22.60 for the first quarter and :47.55 for the first half-mile. As they approached the final turn, Tamahere's lead began to shrink, the field catching up to her as Platinum Paynter dropped back on the turn. Joel Rosario moved Viadera from the rail to the outside of Tamahere, positioning her for her closing run at the leader.

In the stretch, Tamahere looked like she could wire the field, Irad Ortiz, Jr. urging her to keep up the pace. To her inside, High Opinion and Luis Saez were riding the rail, taking advantage of the open lane, while Rosario had Viadera in a drive on Tamahere's outside. The two passed Tamahere and then hooked up inside the last sixteenth of a mile, with Viadera nosing out High Opinion at the wire. Kalifornia Queen, closing fast on Viadera's outside, rounded out the top three with Tamahere, New York Girl, and Platinum Paynter completing the field of six.

The final time for the 1 1/16-mile G2 Ballston Spa was 1:41.82. Find this race's chart here.

Viadera paid $3.60, $2.90, and $2.30. High Opinion paid $5.00 and $3.30. Kalifornia Queen paid $3.00.

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“Joel [Rosario] got in really good position this time and made sure there weren't too many horses in front of him in his way when he wanted to make his run. She got a nice, pocketed ground-saving trip, and once again she showed that she knows where the wire is. She's won a couple of close photo finishes now in her career,” Brown said after the race.” She has an affinity for the wire, this horse. If you train horses long enough you'll realize that certain horses know where it is on the winning end and some seem to come up on the losing end. She's one of the ones who knows where it is.”

“I think last time she was coming off a long layoff and the pace didn't work out all that well [fourth in the Faisg-Tipton De La Rose on August 8]. It was better here. She was sharper and I still thought the filly on the inside [High Opinion] probably had momentum on us going to the line, but she just has a way of always getting her nose down on the line,” Garrett O'Rourke, Juddmonte general manager, told the NYRA Press Office after the Ballston Spa. “She keeps winning photo finishes and everyone wants a horse with ability, but that competitive edge is fantastic as well.”

“It was a better trip today with horses being in front and I was able to track there for a little bit. Turning for home, I was clear. She always tries really hard. She's a very good filly,” Rosario said after the race. “At the last minute, I knew the horse was coming inside [High Opinion], but she was so game and fighting going forward, so I was never worried about it, but that horse came very close.”

Bred and owned by Juddmonte Farms, Viadera (GB) is a 5-year-old mare by Bated Breath (GB) out of the Beat Hollow (GB) mare, Sacred Shield (GB). The Ballston Spa is her first win of 2021, following a fourth-place finish in the De La Rose at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Her lifetime record is seven wins in 15 starts for career earnings of $618,641.

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Brown Trio Heads Ballston Spa

Trainer Chad Brown will saddle half of the six-horse field in the GII Ballston Spa S. at Saratoga Saturday. Brown's trio is led by GI Matriarch S. winner Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}). The 5-year-old mare opened her stateside campaign with a fourth-place effort in last year's GIII Intercontinental S. before culminating a three-race win streak in the Matriarch last November. In her lone start this year, she was a troubled fourth in the Aug. 8 De La Rose S.

“She had a lot of trouble last time, but she got something out of it and hopefully can move forward off short rest,” Brown said of the Juddmonte homebred.

Kalifornia Queen (Ger) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), a group winner in her native Germany last May, captured her first U.S. victory in a Belmont optional claimer over the Ballston Spa's 1 1/16-mile distance June 13 and is coming off a late-closing second in the nine-furlong GIII Matchmaker S. at Monmouth Park July 17.

“She ran great last time. Cutting her back and taking the blinkers off have done her well,” Brown said of Kalifornia Queen.

Brown's Ballston Spa trio is completed by Tamahere (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). Winner of last year's GII Sands Point S. at Belmont Park in her U.S. debut, the 4-year-old filly opened 2021 with a runner-up effort in the Apr. 10 GI Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland. She was a well-beaten ninth in the June 5 GI Just a Game S. and is coming off a runner-up effort over the Ballston Spa's course and distance in a July 28 optional claimer.

Brown will be seeking his record-extending sixth victory in the Ballston Spa, having saddled Zagora (2012), Dacita (2015), Lady Eli (2017), Quidura (2018) and Significant Form (2019) to wins in the race.

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Chad Brown-Trained Trio Headline Ballston Spa

Trainer Chad Brown will be represented by a trio of turf distaffers while seeking his sixth triumph in Saturday's 33rd running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf at Saratoga Race Course.

Brown, a three-time leading trainer at the Spa, is the winningest trainer in the Ballston Spa, having saddled Zagora [2012] and Lady Eli [2017] to victories en route to Champion Grass Female honors in their respective years, as well as winning with Dacita [2015], Quidura [2018] and Significant Form [2019].

Juddmonte's Viadera, who arrives off nearly three week's rest, was a troubled fourth as the favorite in the De La Rose on Aug. 8 at the Spa, where she made her first start in over eight months. The 5-year-old daughter of Bated Breath will try to regain her winning form from last season, when she secured three stakes victories.

Following a triumph by a neck in the 2020 De La Rose, which was her second start in North America, she won by the same margin against stable mate Blowout in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel on September 26 at Belmont Park. Viadera brought her form to new heights when shipping to Southern California for the Grade 1 Matriarch on November 29 at Del Mar, besting Blowout once more under a well-timed ride by jockey Joel Rosario to win by a nose.

In the De La Rose last out, Viadera rated at the rear of the field along the rail, checked slightly down the backstretch, and lacked racing room in upper stretch to close late finishing 2 ¾ lengths behind stable mate Regal Glory.

“She had a lot of trouble last time, but she got something out of it and hopefully can move forward off short rest,” Brown said.

Rosario, the pilot in all five of her North American starts, will retain the mount from post 3.

Kalifornia Queen, owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and First Row Partners, arrives off a late-closing second to stable mate Great Island in the Grade 3 Matchmaker on July 17 at Monmouth Park.

A Group 2 winner in her native Germany, the 4-year-old daughter of Lope de Vega was unplaced in graded stakes in her first two starts in North America, but made her third effort stateside a winning one in an allowance optional claiming tilt at the Ballston Spa distance on July 13 at Belmont Park.

Brown said he was satisfied with the effort.

“She ran great last time. Cutting her back and taking the blinkers off have done her well,” Brown said.

Kalifornia Queen will leave post 6 under jockey Flavien Prat.

Swift Thoroughbreds, Madaket Stables and Wonder Stables' Tamahere seeks her first victory since capturing her North American debut in the Grade 2 Sands Point on October 10 at Belmont Park.

The French-bred daughter of Wootton Bassett finished second in two of her three efforts this season. In her 2021 debut, Tamahere was second to Juliet Foxtrot in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 10 at Keeneland. After a distant ninth in the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game on June 5 at Belmont Park, she received a drop in class into allowance optional claiming company to run second on July 28 at Saratoga.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Tamahere from post 2.

Trainer Tony Dutrow will send out Woodford Racing's High Opinion, who bested winners last out on July 31 going one mile over Saratoga's inner turf.

The 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid lit up the tote board when breaking her maiden at 97-1 odds on October 10 at Belmont Park and validated the effort when finishing a close second in the next-out Winter Memories on November 15 at Aqueduct.

Jockey Luis Saez will pilot High Opinion from post 1.

R Unicorn Stable's New York Girl has been multiple graded stakes placed since joining the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott last year and will seek a breakthrough victory in the Ballston Spa.

The 4-year-old daughter of New Approach was beaten by one length or less in three graded stakes events to kick off her 2021 season. After losing by one length in the Grade 3 Endeavor on February 6 at Tampa Bay Downs, she returned to the Oldsmar oval to finish third beaten three-quarters of a length one month later in the Grade 2 Hillsborough. In the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 1 at Churchill Downs, she closed late to finish second and miss by a half-length.

New York Girl arrives off a troubled fourth at allowance optional claiming level on August 1 over the Spa inner turf.

Breaking from post 4, New York Girl will be piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the winningest rider in the Ballston Spa with five victories.

Rounding out the field is Just In Time Racing's multiple stakes-placed Platinum Paynter, who was third in the Grade 3 Beaugay on May 8 at Belmont Park and in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial on July 6 at Parx Racing. Trained by Juan Vazquez, the daughter of Paynter made her 5-year-old debut when second to Regal Glory in the Plenty of Grace on April 24 at Aqueduct.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will ride from post 5.

The Ballston Spa is slated as Race 4 on the 13-race card. First post is 11:35 a.m. Eastern. For the third consecutive year, FOX will air the Runhappy Travers as the centerpiece of a 90-minute telecast beginning at 5 p.m. The networks of FOX and FOX Sports will air 7.5 total hours of live racing and analysis on Runhappy Travers Day, with coverage scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on FS1. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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