Saratoga: Domestic Product narrowly prevails in Jerkens

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Like father, like son.

Trainer Chad Brown’s willingness to take Domestic Product on a similar path to the one he followed with his sire, Practical Joke, landed him in the winner’s circle in the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Saturday at Saratoga.

Domestic Product, patiently ridden by Flavien Prat, ran down favored Prince of Monaco by a neck. Woody Stephens (G1) winner Book’em Danno came in third.

Brown recognized the need to change his approach with Practical Joke after that colt ran fifth in the Kentucky Derby in 2017, realizing it was asking too much to expect him to prevail at classic distances. The same thought struck him after Domestic Product came in fifth in the Derby.

“Although he had a rough trip in the Derby, he lost a shoe and kind of had some excuses, I started to change my lens looking at him more toward the sire and what worked for him,” said Brown. “I try not to complicate things. His color might be different but he reminds me a lot of Practical Joke. I already had the blueprint to do it.”

Practical Joke, owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, was a bay. Domestic Product is listed as a dark bay or brown. Practical Joke possessed a world of speed when called upon. Ditto for Domestic Product, owned solely by Klaravich Stables.

After the Derby, Practical Joke captured the Dwyer and took third in the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park to set him up perfectly for the seven-furlong Jerkens. Domestic Product, in his first start after the Derby, took second in the June 15 Pegasus Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth Park. He dominated the one-mile Dwyer by 7 ½ lengths on July 6 at Aqueduct, setting him up perfectly for the Jerkens.

“After the Derby, I started to work backward to this race,” said Brown, the meet’s leading trainer. “I told Seth, who unfortunately could not be here today, I’m going to try to do the same thing we did with his sire and cut him back on Travers Day. And it worked.”

Not that it was easy. Domestic Product and jockey Flavien Prat were near the back of the pack as part of a field of 11 in the early going. Brown winced as he watched.

“I wasn’t feeling too well when he broke slow,” the trainer said. “But he started to move up in the race and he did it in a way inside of horses where it didn’t look like he was using too much energy to improve his position. So I was optimistic at least turning for home and then when I saw him gobbling up ground I thought he would have a chance at the wire. He nosed out a very, very good horse.”

Prat had hoped they would not be left with so much to do. “He jumped just okay. I thought I was going to a little closer, to be honest,” he said. “Then he came on the bridle nicely. From the half-mile pole to the three-eighths pole, I thought I was traveling very well. After that, he was very brave to get the win. I thought it was a great, great effort.”

Prince of Monaco, piloted by John Velazquez, made a strong move on the turn and gained a commanding position when front-running World Record faltered and he assumed the lead at the top of the stretch. But he was not quite good enough.

“We had a perfect trip,” Velazquez said. “We were where we wanted to be in the first part of the race. I asked him to run. He ran. The other one was just a little faster than mine.”

Domestic Product completed the seven furlongs in 1:21.71. He returned $11 for a $2 win wager. He improved his career record to 9: 4-2-0 while his earnings rose to $729,200.

It is possible that his sixth start this year was his last of the season.

“I’m not sure. I’m going to take a step back. He’s had a long year,” Brown said. “Horses that were on the Derby trail are still breezing and running. They’ve done a lot of work and this is a young horse. I don’t feel any pressure to run him, but I’ll talk to Seth to see what we want to do together.”