Brown boasts another Euro-bred standout in Derby card winner

Louisville, Ky.

Entering Saturday, Speak of the Devil had never performed in front of any U.S. racing crowd. When she broke out of the starting gates that afternoon, the 5-year-old was surrounded by the biggest crowd the sport has to offer.

Running in front an announced 147,294 fans at Churchill Downs, Speak of the Devil scored in the first stakes race on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The Wootton Bassett mare flew up late to win the Grade 2, $500,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths.

Trainer Chad Brown noted the Derby Day crowd “definitely woke her up a little bit.” He credited jockey Flavien Prat with helping the Peter Brant-owned mare adjust to the setting.

“The post parade there, it seemed like it was a lot for her,” Brown said. “Flavien did a good job getting her settled down immediately after she did that little bunny hop out of the tunnel and kind of cut away from the pony.

“She showed her quality here. Maybe a few things to work on moving out of this race, making sure she’s mentally prepared to handle things on big days. But other than that, I couldn’t have been more pleased.”

In Speak of the Devil, Brown has yet another European-bred turf runner who looks to be an emerging star in his barn.

Brown won Breeders’ Cup events over the last decade with Euro-breds Newspaperofrecord, Sistercharlie, Uni and Zagora. His Grade 1 winners in 2021 included six turf runners bred overseas: Blowout, Domestic Spending, Raging Bull, Rockemperor, Shantisara and Tribhuvan.

Speak of the Devil joined Brown’s stable by way of France, where she was bred. She made 14 starts overseas, winning stakes races at Deauville, Longchamp and Saint Cloud.

After making six starts in France from May 30 to Halloween, she relocated to Brown’s wintertime base at Payson Park in South Florida.

“When you bring these horses over, she came over and she looked like a tired horse when I got her late last year,” Brown said. “I turned her out for a while, actually, down at Payson Park and eased her into training very slowly.

“Every week, I just couldn’t believe the coat on her and the weight on her. She looked like a tiger when we took her off the van here after we shipped her up. I felt she’d run good.”

In the Distaff Turf Mile, Speak of the Devil went off an 11-10 favorite in a field of six. She was slow out of the gates and last away under Prat while her stablemate In Italian showed the early pace.

“We had (the pace) covered up front with In Italian, a confirmed front-runner with quality, and then Speak of the Devil, knowing it was her first time in the country, she was probably going to fall back a little bit out of the gate,” Brown said. “It seemed like a good one-two punch.”

Speak of the Devil did not have a hot pace to close against, with In Italian going through the first three panels in 24.86 seconds, 49.70 seconds and 1:14.60. The favorite shifted outside her rivals through the turn, dispatched each of them, and then had plenty in the tank to pass In Italian and cruise on to a comfortable win.

A climb to Grade 1 flight would seem likely for Speak of the Devil off her successful U.S. debut. Belmont Park hosts the $500,000 Just a Game Stakes (G1), also at a mile, June 11 on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

If Speak of the Devil moves on to the Just a Game, she could face another Brant-owned, Brown-trained standout in Regal Glory. That 6-year-old mare won Keeneland’s Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1) on April 16.

Quipped Brown, “(Speak of the Devil) may meet another filly with green silks on in five weeks.”