Friday, October 24, 2014
Contact: Jenny Kellner
vkellner@nyrainc.com
Brown hopes to close out Belmont meet on winning note
ELMONT, N.Y. - Chad Brown, who entered the weekend atop Belmont Park's trainer standings, looks to close out a successful fall meet on Sunday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap, the final stakes before racing moves to Aqueduct Racetrack.
Brown entered 4-year-old Endless Chatter and 3-year-old Catch My Drift in the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, which will be run as race 9 on the 10-race closing day card.
Endless Chatter, a daughter of First Samurai out of the A.P. Indy mare Orate, enters the Turnback the Alarm off a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Beldame, which was her first graded stakes appearance. Prior to that, the Alpha Delta Stables color-bearer won three straight, including the restricted Summer Colony on August 18 at Saratoga Race Course.
"This is a filly that really came around this summer, particularly at Saratoga," said Brown. "I'm real proud of her. She's a horse who stayed here all winter and kind of went around in circles for a while. When she finally hit a bit of a growth spurt, she really came on this summer. Her last race was a third in the Beldame behind a horse who's going to the Breeders' Cup [Belle Gallantey] and that was a really good showing. This is more of her class level. Two turns is more her preference but it looks like a good fit, class-wise, for her."
Joel Rosario will be aboard Endless Chatter, 7-2 on the morning line, when they leave from post position 6.
Should Brown elect to run her, Catch My Drift would be going for her fourth victory in five starts in the Turnback the Alarm. Her only loss came when she was seventh in the Grade 1 Alabama at 1 ¼ miles in her lone stakes appearance.
"I don't think the 1 ¼ miles was too far a distance; I think it was too high of a jump [in class] for her," said Brown of the Pioneerof the Nile filly. "She really couldn't handle that. We backed up and regrouped with her and she won a nice allowance race at Parx Racing. She really did well. She's run well there; she needs to translate that form to here. I do believe she's a horse that could get to the Comely [Grade 3, November 29, Aqueduct] if she continues to develop the way she has been."
Hall of Famer John Velazquez has been named to ride Catch My Drift, 6-1 on the morning line. The pair will leave from post position 8.
Todd Pletcher will be well-represented in the Turnback the Alarm with 3-1 favorite Teen Pauline and Dame Dorothy, who sits at 4-1 on the morning line.
Teen Pauline has not raced since last winter, when she won the Affectionately, Ladies Handicap and Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct by a combined margin of 18 lengths.
"She got a bit of a freshening after her winter campaign, and this is sort of where she landed," said Pletcher of the 4-year-old Teen Pauline, who is owned by Stonestreet Stables. "I'm not sure that she is at her best around one turn, but we are looking forward to getting her back underway."
Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Teen Pauline, who drew post position 5.
The lightly raced Dame Dorothy, undefeated in three starts, will be making her first start in a graded stakes. Owned by Bobby Flay, the 3-year-old Bernardini filly broke her maiden last November, took an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park by 12 lengths in January and returned in August to win the Malvern Rose at Presque Isle Downs.
"She's a filly we've always thought a lot of," said Pletcher. "She's had some spacing between her starts and we're hoping to get a little more consistent schedule with her. There are limited options, and this is a bit of an ambitious placing for her. But we think highly of her and this should set her up for the Comely, which would be back against straight 3-year-old fillies."
Javier Castellano will ride Dame Dorothy, with the pair leaving from post position 2.
Tapit's World, the co-second choice at 7-2, will be making her Belmont bow in the Turnback the Alarm for new trainer Michelle Nevin. The 4-year-old Tapit filly was headed in the Grade 3 Gardenia at Ellis Park during the summer, and before that was 12th in the Robert G. Dick Memorial on the turf at Delaware Park.
Jose Ortiz rides from the rail.
Rounding out the field are Toasting, Moment in Dixie, and Flores Island.
The field for the Grade 3, $200,000 Turnback the Alarm:
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