Brown: Zandon 'moving super' in penultimate Ky. Derby drill

Lexington, Ky.

As he spoke about the latest member of his barn being readied for a run in the first leg of the Triple Crown, trainer Chad Brown acknowledged he and his brethren rarely ever declare that one of their own isn’t working up to par.

“When you get horses at this level that are headed to the Kentucky Derby, very few of them work poorly,” the four-time Eclipse Award winner said. “These are the best of the crop really at this time so, you’re going to see a lot of good works. You’re just hoping to be in that large group of good workers and not in that small group of ones that might not work well.”

Based off what he witnessed from Grade 1 winner Zandon at Keeneland on April 23, Brown is confidence his praise for his protégé’s preparations will go down as more than just trainer speak. In his first move since capturing the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 9, Jeff Drown’s colt left his connections suitably impressed as he cruised through a four-furlong work in 48.6 seconds.

With exercise rider Kriss Bon in the saddle, Zandon broke off solo and clocked splits of 12.8, 25.2, and 37.0 seconds under little urging and continued on to gallop out in 1:00.8, 1:13.8 and 1:27.6. The son of Upstart is slated to ship to Churchill Downs on April 24 and will have his final work in advance of the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

“He was just moving super, what we're looking to see,” Brown said. “I just wanted to stretch his legs, evaluate how he's moving and just maintaining where he's at. He doesn’t need to get any fitter, he's good. I was really impressed with how he galloped out, just looking to see him really reaching and happy with his ears up. I really couldn't be more pleased with how he worked.”

Where Zandon is relatively lightly raced with two wins from four starts, Brown feels the dark bay colt has more experience than his past performances suggest given some of the circumstances he has faced. When he ran second to Mo Donegal by a nose in the Remsen Stakes (G2) last December, there was some controversy as those two bumped in the lane and Mo Donegal’s jockey, Irad Ortiz, Jr., appeared to make contact while throwing crosses with his reins.

During his seasonal bow in the Feb. 19 Risen Star Stakes (G2), Zandon broke in the air but recovered enough to get up for third behind race winner and expected Kentucky Derby favorite, Epicenter.

“He might not have a lot of running lines there, but he does have a lot of good experience,” Brown said. “Really in all his starts, even in the Remsen the horse was bumped and elbowed and was going 1 1/8 miles off one start, he showed a lot there. It may be a small number of races, but those races were very meaningful.”

Brown, who is seeking his first career Kentucky Derby victory, has another potential contender in Withers Stakes (G3) winner Early Voting. The son Gun Runner turned in his first workout since finishing second in the Wood Memorial (G2), going four furlongs in 49.92 seconds over the Belmont Park training track Saturday morning, but a decision is still pending on whether the colt will move on to Louisville.

“He worked well. Hopefully we’ll have a decision in another day or two,” Brown said.