Chad Brown prepares big string for Breeders’ Cup 2023

Trainer Chad Brown was cautiously optimistic on Saturday as his Breeders’ Cup hopefuls completed their final preparations before they were scheduled to ship cross-country to Santa Anita.

“Some good shots,” he said. “We’re very fortunate to be in the position we’re in as a team to have these nice horses year after year.”

Year after year Brown’s powerhouse outfit proves that it knows what to do with those nice horses, especially at the Breeders’ Cup. Brown is tied with Ireland counterpart Aidan O’Brien for third all-time with 16 victories, trailing D. Wayne Lukas with 20 and Bob Baffert with 18. He ranks sixth all-time with $22,380,690 in earnings.

Brown likely will be represented in half the 14 Breeders’ Cup races, underscoring his stable’s depth and his ability to develop talent as the season progresses.

“You never know entering the year if you have any Breeders’ Cup horses,” he said. “Even by mid-summer, I wasn’t sure how many we had that would qualify, and then as the season came along, horses just started to step up.”

Goodnight Olive returns as Brown’s only defending champion, doing so in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Her task became easier in a manner no one wanted to see when sure favorite Echo Zulu suffered a career-ending injury to her left front leg that required surgery.

“I feel really bad for the connections, because she’s a top horse,” Brown said.

He warned that the Filly & Mare Sprint will be “no walkover” for Goodnight Olive. “It’s not an easy race,” he said. “There are some fillies that are maybe a little bit younger and fresher. They’re in good form, and their numbers are going the right way.”

Classic-bound Zandon has kept very good company and acquitted himself well. He placed second in the Met Mile (G1) and Whitney (G1) before controlling the Oct. 1 Woodward (G2) by 4 1/4 lengths. He produced his final pre-Classic work, covering five furlongs in 1:00.23 on Saturday at Belmont Park.

“He went really well and I thought he did it well within himself,” Brown said.

He will send a tough duo of Randomized and Search Results into the Distaff.

Randomized has come on to sweep the Alabama (G1) and then, in her first test against older horses, the Ballerina (G1). Both came on the front end. She was given the start in the 1 1/4-mile Alabama at owner Seth Klarman’s urging.

“We always thought a lot of her, but she certainly has stretched out farther than I thought she would,” Brown said. “I’m just so proud of her, so much heart, so much natural ability, so much raw talent. She’s got to step up against older horses, but she seems like a horse that’s improving.

Search Results, a 5-year-old Flatter mare, has unfinished business at the Breeders’ Cup. The earner of more than $1.9 million has displayed remarkable consistency in hitting the board in 15 of her 16 career starts. Her lone miss? Sixth in last year’s Distaff.

In Italian, Gina Romantica and McKulick are Brown’s top three turf females. In Italian, runner-up in last year’s Filly & Mare Turf, was cross-entered in that race and the Mile. A decision is expected soon after receiving feedback from owner Peter Brant.

Gina Romantica was impressive when she ran down In Italian by a head in the Oct. 7 First Lady (G1) at Keeneland. She is bound for the Mile and McKulick for the Filly & Mare Turf. McKulick will need to improve and to benefit from a strong pace if she is to be a factor.

On Friday, Brown will learn a lot more about General Partner in the Juvenile and Hard to Justify in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. The 1 1/16-mile Juvenile distance should provide a key test for General Partner, a son of champion sprinter Speightstown. He comes off a second-place try against Timberlake in the one-turn Champagne (G1) at a flat mile.

“I think he’ll be able to get the two turns,” Brown said. “Last time in the Champagne it was quite a wet track, and he was doing all of the hard work on the front, and he was still there fighting to the end.”

If General Partner should ace the distance test and emerge as a Kentucky Derby prospect, then a whole different kind of excitement would begin.