SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Chad Brown has won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf four times and, since 2012, is the only North American-based trainer to win the race. So, one would think he would have no issue with the fact the race has frequently changed distances depending at which venue the event is held.
Think again.
Brown doesn’t believe the best North American turf fillies and mares will participate in the Filly and Mare Turf this year, with the race being run at 1 3/8 miles at Del Mar. Over the years, the Filly and Mare Turf has been run at 1 3/16 miles, 1 1/4 miles and 1 3/8 miles, and Brown has won the race at all three of those distances. In 2017, the Filly and Mare Turf was run at 1 1/8 miles.
“I think if you want the best turf fillies in America to go into that race, they need to keep the distances between a mile and an eighth and a mile and a quarter,” Brown said. “I’ve told them [Breeders’ Cup officials] that.”
Since 2012, in the years that Brown has not won the race, the Filly and Mare Turf has been won by a horse with a European-based trainer.
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“If you can’t run it at a mile and a quarter like you do at Santa Anita, you’re going to get a much stronger race from a mile-and-an-eighth to a mile-and-three-sixteenths,” Brown said. “If you’re just going to cater to European horses because that’s what they want, then that’s a discussion we all need to have.”
Brown expressed his frustration with the Filly and Mare Turf distance the day after he won the Grade 2 Flower Bowl in Saratoga at 1 3/8 miles with 31-1 shot Idea Generation. Though the victory earned Idea Generation a fees-paid berth into the Filly and Mare Turf, Brown is undecided on pointing her to that race. Brown believes she’s more effective when able to get loose on the lead and on a course with give in it, as was the case Saturday. That is unlikely to be the case at Del Mar.
Brown said he has not yet thought about a future race for Idea Generation or McKulick, who finished third in the Flower Bowl. There is the Grade 3, $200,000 Waya at Aqueduct on Oct. 4.
Many of Brown’s other top female turf horses excel at distances from a mile to 1 1/8 miles. He has at least three under consideration for the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland, including Whitebeam, Chili Flag, and Gina Romantica. The First Lady is run at one mile on Oct. 5.
La Brea the goal for Brightwork
One race prior to the Spinaway, trainer John Ortiz sent out Brightwork to a neck victory over Two Sharp in the Grade 3 Prioress. The race was Brightwork’s first since she finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita last November.
Ortiz said the Grade 1 La Brea, a race for 3-year-old fillies that is typically run at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, is his year-end goal for Brightwork. Ortiz said he is not pointing Brightwork to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
“I think we need to stick with 3-year-olds while we still can, there’s no need to rush there,” Ortiz said. “She’s obviously going to be a better older mare with time. Going to work backwards from [the La Brea]; we’ll let her tell us either way. I’d like to win another Grade 1 with her for sure.”
Zito back in Saratoga winner’s circle
The Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, who has won many of Saratoga’s biggest races, won his first race here in five years on Sunday when Unclecharliesgift won a $25,000 claiming race. It was Zito’s first win at Saratoga since Frammento won a $35,000 claimer in July 2019. In between, Zito started 87 horses here.
“The most important thing is we did it in Saratoga,” Zito, 76, said. “I also think the most important thing is you got to keep hanging in the game, sooner or later it’ll change. We’re doing everything the same, the horse looked beautiful. You got to have the players.”
Zito, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner, currently has 12 horses. He plans to stay in Saratoga for about a month after the meet ends before moving to Keeneland for that meet, which opens in October. Zito plans to return to Florida for the winter after spending the last several winters at Oaklawn Park.
“I love the people at Oaklawn, but I think I have a better opportunity in Florida,” Zito said. “There are a few owners down there that said if I go back down, they’ll give me some horses. There’s a lot of great trainers out there, they’re not getting the opportunity. I’m in the Hall of Fame, thank the Lord, so you know we can do it and you’ve seen me do it a lot of times.”
Zito said his primary client, Nena Moss, has her horses based in Florida, including several unraced 2-year-olds.
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