Brown Almighty Worth Another Look

Last month, G3 Bourbon Stakes runner up Brown Almighty went to post as the second choice in the Smarty Jones Stakes, his first start on dirt. After being caught wide in the early stages of the race, jockey Corey Nakatani moved Brown Almighty closer to the inside but the colt was never a factor after failing to engage in the race. After that uncharacteristically dull effort, trainer Tim Ice had his charge scoped, and vets discovered that Brown Almighty had had an undetected lung infection.

 

 

Bearing that in mind, I believe Brown Almighty is worth another look in today’s G3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. He will again face the top three finishers from the Smarty Jones, Will Take Charge, Texas Bling, and Always in a Tiz, as well as sixth place finisher Officer Alex. Joining the fray is the highly regarded Super Ninety Nine, who has been made the morning line favorite. Now while this field is full of nice colts, it is Brown Almighty that I keep going back to.

 

 

There’s a lot of upside to this three-year old son of Big Brown. First of all, the Southwest distance should not be an issue for him. In his only other try at 8.5 furlongs, Brown Almighty finished second through the disqualification of Really Sharp who swerved out with a furlong left in the G3 Bourbon Stakes. (You can see a replay of the race through a link near the bottom of Brown Almighty's page.) Along with being steadied behind the bumping and jostling in the stretch, Brown Almighty was also trapped along the rail. When he finally found running room and regained momentum after being steadied, it was too late.