Chad Brown

Impressive through his first two races before disappointing in his third try, Repole Stable's Never Surprised (Constitution) will return off a seven-plus month layoff to face a formidable pair of Chad Brown rivals and three other challengers in Saturday's GIII Saranac S. at Saratoga. Debuting over six furlongs on the Aqueduct grass last November, Never Surprise stalked the pace, pounced at the quarter pole and drew clear in the lane for a 3 1/2-length success, earning a strong 89 Beyer. He bettered that number by one point when going wire...

She keeps getting better, and Saturday, George Krikorian's War Like Goddess (English Channel) will get her first chance at a Grade I victory as a likely overwhelming favorite in the 1 3/8-mile GI Flower Bowl S., which will be run at Saratoga for the first time after a 43-year run at Belmont. Bought for just $30,000 at OBS June in 2019, the bay debuted going nine furlongs on the Churchill turf last September at Churchill and rallied from second-last to take over late, and she validated that explosive late rally...

A win by Sifting Sands (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) last Sunday in Saratoga in the Better Talk Now S. continued a pattern that has been hard to miss this year. He became the seventh horse sold at a Tattersalls October Yearling sale to win a stakes race at the meet. One, Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), has won two graded stakes, the GII Lake Placid S. and the GIII Lake George S. Only one of the winners, State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), is based in Europe. Five are trained by...

A pair of impressive debut winners by the same sire earlier in the meet at Saratoga, one each from the Shug McGaughey and Chad Brown barns, figure to take the bulk of the play in a seven-horse renewal of the GIII With Anticipation S. for juvenile males going 1 1/16 miles on turf to kick off closing week Wednesday at the Spa. Given the nod at 7-5 on the morning line is Stuart Janney's homebred Limited Liability (Kitten's Joy). Racing with just one horse beaten early debuting over this course...

Owner Jim Bakke's experience in horse racing has been fairly typical. He started off with a small stable, didn't have much success and waited for his day to come. It looks like he's not going to have to wait any longer. Along with Gerald Isbister, Bakke is the co-owner of 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings), a Chad Brown-trained colt who brought down the house Saturday with an 8 3/4-length maiden win at Saratoga. Jack Christopher, who is named for Bakke's six-month-old grandson, will head to the GI Champagne S.,...

Godolphin's Essential Quality (Tapit) exited his win in Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. in fine shape, and, while his next start is up in the air, his ultimate target will be the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Sunday. "He looked great this morning. He's in good shape," Cox said. "[Godolphin USA President] Jimmy Bell and I spoke about [his next start] this morning, there's no pressure to make a decision right now. We'll just let the dust settle and enjoy this victory for a little...

Jack Christopher (c, 2, Munnings--Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours) entered the starting gate on the GI Runhappy Travers S. undercard with a lofty reputation based off his morning breezes for Chad Brown, including a five-furlong drill from the gate in :59 3/5 (2/35) at the Spa Aug. 7, and lived up to the hype with a flashy 'TDN Rising Star' debut performance. He broke sharply and pressed Back to Normal (Liam's Map) on the outside through an opening quarter in :21.83. The even-money favorite poked his blaze face in...

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...

Chad Brown has two chances to capture his fourth renewal of Saratoga's GI Sword Dancer S. Saturday with morning-line favorite Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}) and Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The event is a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf S. A two-time winner in his native France, Tribhuvan was privately purchased by these connections and moved Stateside to Brown. He scored his first Stateside win in his third attempt in a Belmont optional claimer last summer and was subsequently shelved. Making a victorious return...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, post time: 1:05 p.m. ET A pair of half-sisters to Grade I winners line up for top trainers in the Sunday opener. Red Oak Stable homebred Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft) is out of speedy stakes winner Feel That Fire (Lightnin N Thunder), making her a half to Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), a debut winner at two who took the GI Hopeful S. in 2018 here, GI H. Allen Jerkens S. the following season and was last seen annexing...

Madone (Vancouver {Aus}) and Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) have one win each from their two prior meetings and look to break that tie Saturday in the GI Del Mar Oaks. Starting off her sophomore season with a victory in the GIII Senorita S. at Santa Anita May 1, Madone faded to sixth behind Going Global in the GIII Honeymoon S. going nine panels there 21 days later. The dark bay rallied strongly to turn the tables on that foe with a half-length success in Del Mar's one-mile GII San...

Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) tops a six-horse renewal of Saratoga's GII Lake Placid S. Saturday. A second-out graduate at Aqueduct in November, the bay opened her 2021 account with an optional claimer win at Belmont Apr. 29. Sixth behind recent GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational S. winner Con Lima (Commissioner) in Belmont's GIII Wonder Again S. June 3, the Klaravich runner rolled to victory in this venue's GIII Lake George S. last out July 23. "We're going in there getting her back to a mile and a sixteenth. She seems...