Friday, September 26, 2014

Brown appears to have stranglehold on juvenile turf stakes

The New York Racing Association, Inc.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Contact: Sean Morris

smorris@nyrainc.com

Brown appears to have stranglehold on juvenile turf stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown will send out a fleet of well-meant horses to contest Sunday's Grade 3, $200,000 Miss Grillo and Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the Belmont Park turf.

In the Miss Grillo, a race restricted to fillies, Brown will saddle the trio of P.G. Johnson winner Partisan Politics, and impressive debut winners Lady Eli and Tammy the Torpedo, while in the Pilgrim he will have Grade 2 With Anticipation winner Startup Nation, to be complemented by Offering Plan.

The 7-2 second choice on the morning line, Partisan Politics will break from post 10 with Javier Castellano aboard. The Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence-owned filly debuted on July 21 at Saratoga Race Course and finished third by a neck in a 5 ½-furlong turf dash as the 7-5 favorite. The loss did not deter Brown, who spotted her in the 1 1/16-mile P.G. Johnson for her next start, and the trainer was rewarded with a resounding 2 ¾-length victory.

"She ran terrific [in the P.G. Johnson]. She was bumped so hard on the first turn; I was expecting that she would chuck it in on the backside," said Brown. "She was wide the whole way, and she had one race under her belt, a sprint race I had given her. She's a lightly built horse. For her to overcome all that, a wide trip and getting hit pretty hard around the first turn, I was super impressed with that effort."

The 4-1 third choice on the morning line, Lady Eli, was bet as if she couldn't lose in her debut - opening at 3-5 and drifting up to 6-5 by post time - but she very nearly did. The Divine Park filly had no place to run for much of the stretch, but extricated herself from traffic in time to nail the Shug McGaughey-trained Complicated on the wire to prevail by a nose.

"She had been working brilliantly before her debut; the word was out," said Brown, who trains Lady Eli for Sheep Pond Partners. "In her works, she showed a tremendous turn of foot while still on a hold, and she ran like she worked, particularly in the last eighth of a mile. When she finally got some room to run, we saw that turn of foot she showed in the morning. We were lucky to get up and win that day, considering all the trouble she had."

The co-leading rider from Belmont's spring/summer meet, Irad Ortiz, Jr., will take the return call on Lady Eli, and the pair will break from post 9.

Tammy the Torpedo, the 5-2 program favorite, rounds out Brown's Miss Grillo triumvirate. The dark bay or brown filly, owned by Long Lake Stable, was sent off as the 2-1 favorite in her debut, and did not disappoint. Tammy the Torpedo broke from the outside and was forced to take back early to save ground around the first bend, and when called upon, unleashed a devastating rally to score by 3 ¼ lengths.

"Visually and numbers-wise, she was most impressive of the group; she showed a great turn of foot," said Brown. "We've given her plenty of time to recover from that effort and she seems to be in top shape."

Joel Rosario will be back aboard Tammy the Torpedo, who is coupled in the betting with the John Terranova-trained Greywalls, and the More Than Ready filly will break from the rail.

In addition to Greywalls, third-place finisher in a six-furlong maiden turf race on September 5 at Belmont, Terranova will send out the promising French import Ancient Goddess. Ancient Goddess finished second in her debut in France before breaking her maiden by 1 ½ lengths at Chantilly. In her first North American start, the daughter of Iffraaj finished third in the P.G. Johnson after being rank going into the clubhouse turn.

Rounding out the field are Skinner Box, runner-up in the Grade 2 Natalma; Lady Bling, 3 ½-length winner of a maiden race on August 15 at the Spa; Titanium Jo, who broke her maiden on dirt by five lengths in her most recent outing; Nicky's Brown Miss, winner of the Kentucky Downs Fillies; Margaret Reay, who remains a maiden through two starts; Amazing Anne, 1 ½-length winner of a New York-bred maiden race for trainer Tom Morley; and My Cara Mia, 1 ¾-length winner of a six-furlong maiden race on September 6 at Belmont.

While Klaravich Stables' Startup Nation enters the Pilgrim as a graded stakes winner, having taken the With Anticipation by 4 ½ widening lengths, Brown had high praise as well for recent maiden winner Offering Plan. Owned by Michael Dubb, Offering Plan trailed by as many as 11 lengths and made a huge move inside the sixteenth pole to win by 1 ½ lengths on August 28 at Saratoga.

"He was stopped at one point in the race trying to make a move up the inside and had to totally retreat out of that and restart halfway through," said Brown of the New York-bred Spring At Last colt. "To recover from that, having never run before, and make up a lof of lengths in a hurry in the stretch, he showed a remarkable turn of foot. I think he got a lot of fitness out of that race and he should move forward off of it."

Startup Nation, whose two victories were both at the Pilgrim distance, also made up 11 lengths in his most recent outing, earning a field-best Beyer Speed Figure of 85 for the August 28 With Anticipation.

"I'm not seeing any [bounce] in any of his body language coming out of the race," said Brown of Startup Nation, also a New York-bred. "I think he's had enough time since that race, and I don't think he was all out to win the race. He's a pretty talented horse.

"Neither horse has done anything wrong," the trainer added. "They're both undefeated and they've both done terrific since coming out of Saratoga and moving down here. We're looking forward to running both."

Startup Nation, the 2-1 favorite, will carry 122 pounds including Joel Rosario from post position 2, while Offering Plan, 9-2, and Jose Lezano will leave from post position 5.

The lone non-winner in the field of nine is Darley Stable's Imperia, who enters off a narrow second-place finish to fellow Pilgrim entrant Face the Music on August 23.

"We tried it a couple of years ago with Soldat, going from a maiden to a graded stakes [2010 With Anticipation], and it worked out," said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. "But, we think he's a really nice horse, and he ran really well in his first start. Tough race, but we think he's a nice horse. We have a good percentage second time out, so we thought we'd try."

Rajiv Maragh will ride Imperia, 6-1, from post position 4.

Rounding out the field are the third- and fourth-place finishers from the With Anticipation, Nutty Futty and Strong Coffee, and maiden winners All I Karabout, Artie's Flight, and Vision Perfect.

 

The field for the Grade, $200,00 Miss Grillo:

 

 

PP

Horse

Jockey

WGT

Trainer

Odds

1

Tammy the Torpedo (KY)

J Rosario

117

C C. Brown

3/1

3

Greywalls (KY)

J R. Velazquez

115

J P. Terranova, II

3/1

2

Ancient Goddess (FR)

R Maragh

117

J P. Terranova, II

6/1

4

Skinner Box (NY)

J L. Ortiz

117

R A. Violette, Jr.

8/1

5

Lady Bling (NY)

J Lezcano

117

D G. Donk

20/1

6

Titanium Jo (KY)

J Bravo

117

S L. DiMauro

30/1

7

Nicky's Brown Miss (KY)

F C. Torres

121

S A. Capilupi

8/1

8

Margaret Reay (KY)

L Saez

115

M Wilson

20/1

9

Amazing Anne (NY)

M Franco

117

T Morley

30/1

10

Lady Eli (KY)

I Ortiz, Jr.

117

C C. Brown

4/1

11

Partisan Politics (KY)

J Castellano

121

C C. Brown

7/2

12

My Cara Mia (KY)

C H. Velasquez

117

M E. Friedman

12/1

 

 

 

The field for the Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim:

 

 

PP

Horse

Jockey

WGT

Trainer

M/L

1

Vision Perfect (KY)

M Franco

118

D G. Donk

12/1

2

Startup Nation (NY)

J Rosario

122

C C. Brown

2/1

3

Face the Music (KY)

J R. Velazquez

118

C R. McGaughey III

5/1

4

Imperia (KY)

R Maragh

116

K P. McLaughlin

6/1

5

Offering Plan (NY)

J Lezcano

118

C C. Brown

9/2

6

All I Karabout (MD)

J Santiago

118

I Correas, IV

12/1

7

Nutty Futty (KY)

J Valdivia, Jr.

118

C Van Culin

15/1

8

Strong Coffee (KY)

I Ortiz, Jr.

118

H Graham Motion

4/1

9

Artie's Flight (NY)

J Toledo

118

M E. Gorham

30/1

 

 

 

-30-

 

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