Weekend Takeaways: Brown winning big on turf and dirt

It’s no secret trainer Chad Brown has been successful on turf. He’s been known for stars on the grass and he reminded everyone of that again this weekend at Del Mar in the Hollywood Derby (G1) and Matriarch Stakes (G1). Not that we needed the reminder. It was only a month ago he won the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf with Sistercharlie and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with Newspaperofrecord.

This weekend, Raging Bull and Uni invaded Southern California to win the Hollywood Derby and Matriarch, respectively. Back home in New York, though, Brown sent out Patternrecognition to win the Cigar Mile (G1) over Aqueduct’s dirt.

Owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence, Patternrecognition didn’t make his race debut until he was 4 last year. His stakes debut came this September when he wired the one-mile Kelso Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park. He led every step again in the Cigar Mile, and that victory “definitely” has him under consideration for the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park Jan. 26, according to Brown. It would be his first race at 1 1/8 miles.

“He didn't get started until he was 4, so he's clearly had some physical setbacks,” Brown said. “But he's now in good form and has been healthy thanks to a lot of hard work from my team, and a lot of heart and determination from the horse.”

Klarman, Lawrence and Brown have been making a breakthrough on the dirt. Known as a turf trainer, Brown and the owners teamed on Cloud Computing to win the 2017 Preakness Stakes, the first Triple Crown race Brown has ever won. The connections were also successful with Practical Joke, who won three Grade 1s in the Hopeful, Champagne and H. Allen Jerkens.

With different owners, Brown won the Cigar Mile two years ago with Connect and saw 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic earn the 2-year-old Eclipse Award and run second in the 2018 Kentucky Derby.

Brown has been pushing his way onto the main track, and Klarman and Lawrence have also proved they’re here to be competitive on the American dirt scene.

Klarman also owns 2-year-old Network Effect, who ran second in both the Nashua (G3) and Remsen (G2), which awarded him four points toward the 2019 Kentucky Derby

We might not have seen the best of Mendelssohn

Speaking of the Cigar Mile, it was the last we’ll see of Mendelssohn.

The 3-year-old had all the right connections and bloodlines to be a successful racehorse. He is by the late Scat Daddy, who also sired Triple Crown winner Justify, and out of Leslie’s Lady, who produced champion mare Beholder and popular Spendthrift Farm stallion Into Mischief. As a yearling at the 2016 Keeneland September Sale, Mendelssohn commanded a $3 million purchase price, and Coolmore sent him to top European trainer, Aidan O’Brien.

As a juvenile, Mendelssohn showed promise with a runner-up effort in the Dewhurst (G1) and backed it up in his first U.S. race, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He again looked promising at 3, winning the UAE Derby (G2) by 18 ½ lengths. In the Kentucky Derby, though, he was hit at the start and never fired over the sloppy track. The Derby started continuous back-and-forth travel arrangements from the U.S. to Europe. The UAE Derby turned into Mendelssohn’s last win.

The colt clearly had talent, but it never seemed to shine through at the level his connections desired. He hit the board in return trips for the Dwyer (G3), Travers (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), then faded to fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

By Saturday’s Cigar Mile, Mendelssohn didn’t show his usual sharpness at the break. It seemed he would be able to take command from his rail draw and at least hold on for a piece cutting back to a mile. Instead, he broke flat and ran fourth. Coolmore announced his retirement to stud Sunday.

O’Brien’s assistant T.J. Comerford also responded to Mendelssohn’s Cigar Mile run Sunday morning.

“I was a little bit disappointed, but he's had a long year and I guess it's to be expected,” he said. “It's probably the latest we've ever run a horse after campaigning all the time in America. He was showing signs up to the race of being fresh, but I suppose it took its toll on the day.”

Was it the classic 1 ¼-mile distance, the constant travel or the blazing fractions that kept Mendelssohn out of the Grade 1 winner’s circle this year? Or, were high hopes placed on him because of who he was? To earn the top placings he earned through a tough campaign, it doesn’t seem right to say the talent wasn’t there.

Maximus Mischief checks all the boxes so far

For a Kentucky Derby contender coming out of Parx, Maximus Mischief looks like the real deal winning the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. His front-running effort awarded him with 10 points toward a spot in Churchill Downs’ starting gate the first Saturday in May.

He won his first two starts in Pennsylvania by a combined 14 ¾ lengths, then backed up the performance with a 2 ¼-length score in the Remsen, his stakes debut. The 1 1/8-miles test was also his first time around two turns, making distance look like no concern.

The one thing in question were the other horses in the Remsen. The only competition on paper was Network Effect, who ran second. Trainer Robert Reid Jr. did see an improve in the composure of Maximus Mischief, though, something that will be helpful as the races get harder.

“The most impressive part was how he acted in the paddock and all the prerace stuff, because he can be a handful in the paddock,” Reid said. “In his new surroundings, he handled it very well. He stood perfectly in the paddock, which at Aqueduct can be a little foreboding. He handled it great and was cool as a cucumber and stood there perfectly when we put the tack on him. I was pretty confident with the way things were going to go after that.”

Maximus Mischief will receive a break and head south to Florida before his 3-year-old campaign is planned out.

In the Remsen’s counterpart, the Demoiselle Stakes (G2), Positive Spirit romped home to win by 10 ½ lengths and earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. The Rodolphe Brisset-trained filly has big shoes to fill, and so far, she seems to be getting the job done. Positive Spirit is by Pioneerof the Nile and out of Above Perfection, who also foaled 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming.

The race for Eclipse Female Sprinter will be close

There was a reason Marley’s Freedom was favored to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. She won four races in a row, including three stakes – the Desert Stormer (G3), Great Lady M (G2) and Ballerina (G1). Come Breeders’ Cup day, Shamrock Rose was the upset winner only two weeks after winning the Raven Run (G2). That win followed a black-type win at Presque Isle Downs and a listed stakes victory at Woodbine. 

Now the two fillies appear to be the top two choices for Champion Female Sprinter, and Marley’s Freedom added another graded stakes win to her resume at Aqueduct Saturday in the Go for Wand Handicap (G3). The goal of the one-mile race was to stretch her out though, sending her at a distance beyond a sprint.

In the Breeders’ Cup, Marley’s Freedom finished fourth, but she still has four graded stakes scores this year compared to Shamrock Rose’s two. While Shamrock Rose won the biggest race of the division, Marley’s Freedom still ran a great race in defeat and was beaten only half a length.

That being said, the Breeders’ Cup is the end goal for many horses, and the World Championships races often help decide who receives Eclipse honors. Voters will have to decide what carries more weight – graded stakes accomplishments through the season, or an improving fall campaign that culminated with a Breeders’ Cup victory.