Trainer Chad Brown's GI Kentucky Derby duo of My Man Sam (Trappe Shot) and Shagaf (Bernardini) jogged under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs Sunday, two days after working Friday and Brown insisted he “wouldn't trade these two for anyone else in the field.”
Despite his current confidence, Brown wasn't always so sure Sheep Pond Partners, Newport Stables and Jay Bligh's My Man Sam would be a top-tier sophomore.
“I thought he'd be a nice horse, but I never thought he'd be a Derby-caliber horse,” Brown admitted Sunday. “He got a late start for mental reasons. He was very unfocused in the summer. Originally he was sent to me as a turf prospect. I breezed him on the turf at Saratoga and I didn't like the horse on the turf. So we just stuck to the dirt and gave him some time.
“It took him a long time to get his gate card and stuff like that,” he continued. “He just wasn't all there. But he put it all together late in the fall and had some good workouts that led us to believe this horse was going to be OK. We weren't thinking a mile-and-a-quarter dirt horse, by Trappe Shot and kind of small. But when we got him around two turns he really exploded and opened our eyes up to what we had. Sometimes that happens with horses. They all develop at different stages.”
Fifth in his six-furlong debut at Aqueduct last December, My Man Sam was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' with his eight-length romp going 1 1/16 miles at the Big A Jan. 31. He is coming off a late-running second-place effort behind Brody's Cause (Giant's Causeway) in the Apr. 9 GI Toyota Blue Grass S.
“He's a hard tryer, a brave horse, a strong-willed little horse,” Brown said. “He's not afraid of anything. You put him in any situation and he's very willing.”
Shadwell's Shagaf, also a 'TDN Rising Star' was less of a surprise for Brown. The bay colt aired by six lengths on debut at Aqueduct last November and added a Gulfstream optional claimer before taking the Mar. 5 GIII Gotham S. He suffered his first defeat when fifth over a muddy track in the Apr. 9 GI Twinspires.com Wood Memorial S.
“I'm not sure this horse liked Florida,” Brown commented. “He just never was quite the same down there as he was in New York. After the Gotham we left him in New York and the horse really started to pick up his weight again and he just started to train more consistently. He was really coming into the Wood in fine shape before it rained. Since the Wood there's been more improvement, more consistency; he's gaining weight, getting stronger. The horse breezes by himself now; he was always one that needed company. He's had two fabulous works here at Churchill, by himself, effortlessly.”
Brown thinks Shagaf is coming into the Derby at the perfect time.
“You can debate his numbers and how fast he runs but, to me, the horse is really peaking right now,” Brown said.
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