Chad Brown

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--In an intriguing GI Travers Stakes loaded with talent and questions, will anyone be surprised if 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) wins? Nope. Although it is unlikely that the colt trained by Chad Brown will be the betting favorite Saturday in the 155th running of the signature race at Saratoga Race Course--he is a narrow fourth at 7-2 on the morning line--Sierra Leone's record demands respect. He has never been worse than third in seven career starts. One of those victories came in the GI Blue...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--A good 15 minutes after Briland (McKinzie) won the first race Sunday by a neck at Saratoga Race Course, Devon Bradley was unexpectedly pulled into the interview in the winner's enclosure. Well-respected bloodstock agent and architect of partnerships, Peter Bradley had just noted that his daughter was the driving force behind the purchase of the filly out of the Speightstown mare Bay Harbor at OBS April. When Peter said--"This was her favorite horse in the sale, so what was I to say?"--Devon was summoned from another conversation to...

Grayosh upset the heavily favored She Feels Pretty to provide trainer Chad Brown with a fourth straight victory in the GII Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga. Backed at odds of 7-1, the rail-drawn Grayosh raced in an inside third behind a pair of longshot leaders through fractions of :24.22 and :49.67. The gray set her sights on the pacesetting Ori (Hard Spun) and was guided off the rail by Flavien Prat in the stretch. With Ori beginning to pack it in, Grayosh raced shoulder to shoulder with last year's aforementioned...

1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10 p.m. ET. BRILAND (McKinzie), the second to race after SW Miuccia (Mitole), will have her turn for trainer Chad Brown and the ownership group of Gainesway, Bradley Thoroughbreds, Cambron Equine and Alan Northcutt. Featured in TDN's Summer Breezes segment, the $675,000 buy at OBS April was initially purchased for $200,000 by Scoot Stables during Keeneland September. Briland's dam, Bay Harbor (Speightstown), is herself out of GSW Our Khrysty (Newfoundland). This second dam--a half-sister to GI Whitney Handicap hero Bullsbay (Tiznow)--also produced GISW Grace...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. - Saturday is going to be a big day for horses being pointed to the $1.24-million GI Travers Stakes. Two key horses for the race--Dornoch (Good Magic) and Fierceness (City of Light)--had their final works switched from Friday to Saturday. They will join Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), Honor Marie (Honor Code) and Batten Down (Tapit), who are all scheduled to have their final Midsummer Derby moves on Saturday. Saratoga did have some heavy rain on Thursday, but the track appeared ok on...

7th-DMR, $75K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 8:02 p.m. ET. Conditioned by John Sadler, Don Alberto homebred UNIQUE POWER (Into Mischief) debuts for his dam--champion older dirt female Unique Bella (Tapit)--who was acquired by the stable for $400,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Sale. Her own dam is GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic heroine Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song). Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm took this mare home for $3.8 million at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. Unrivaled Belle's half-sister, Lemon Belle (Lemon Drop Kid), is responsible for GIII Gotham Stakes champ...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Once the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes is history, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) will head back to running against fillies. Trainer Kenny McPeek said he has no plans on running his talented miss against the colts after the centerpiece of the summer meeting at the Spa. "No, no, no," McPeek said outside of his barn at annex off the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. "A 3-year-old filly against the colts in the Breeders' Cup Classic? Unless it fell apart." The plan moving forward for...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Fasig-Tipton concluded an impressive week of work in Saratoga with the second and final session of the company's New York-Bred Yearling Sale Monday at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. The auction finished with a sale-record median and the third-highest average in its history. Trainer Chad Brown, bidding on behalf of Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stable made the sale's highest bid when going to $370,000 just five hips from the end of Monday's session. "It was another successful edition of the New York-bred sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd...

It was worth the wait. After twice being rescheduled and finally run eight days late due to rain, the GI FanDuel Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga stayed on the lawn and featured a breakout performance by 'TDN Rising Star' Carl Spackler (c, 4, Lope de Vega {Ire})--Zindaya, by More Than Ready), who was taking the first Grade I event of his career after winning three other graded races, all at Saratoga. As a 'Win and You're In' race for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, the Fourstardave gives Carl Spackler a fees-paid...

GI Blue Grass Stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) returned to the work tab Sunday morning for trainer Chad Brown ahead of an expected next start in the GI DraftKings Travers Stakes Aug. 24. The $2.3m FTSAUG grad, last seen second to another 'Rising Star' and champion in Fierceness (City of Light) in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes July 27, covered a solo half mile in :49 flat over the Oklahoma training track. "He worked super," said Brown. "He's come out of his last race well...

6th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 3:53 p.m. ET. Lining up for another competitive maiden special weight at Saratoga, several 2-year-old fillies will be making the first start of their careers. TRADING STRATEGY (Quality Road) was purchased for $500,000 by Klaravich Stables during last year's Keeneland September Sale. The Chad Brown trainee is out of Dothraki Sea (Union Rags), herself a 2020 $560,000 Keeneland November buy for Band of Brothers while GSP Mc Vay (Constitution)--a $1.25 million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale grad--was in-utero. This dam is a half-sister to GISW...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.   After losing just about any chance at the break, Praetor (c, 2, Into Mischief--Curlin's Approval, by Curlin) showed plenty of promise in defeat finishing third behind ultra-impressive 'TDN Rising Star Ferocious (Flatter) on debut at Saratoga Aug. 3. Well-backed at 7-2 for trainer Chad Brown over a muddy and sealed surface, Praetor was bumped and pinched back at the start and trailed the field of nine through...