Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown has entered four contenders in pursuit of a record-extending fifth win in Aug. 19 $200,000 Lake Placid (G2T) for sophomore fillies traveling 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course.
Headlining the foursome is Klaravich Stables’ Surge Capacity , who enters from a graded stakes debut score in the Lake George (G3T) July 21 over yielding Saratoga inner turf. The dark bay daughter of Flintshire , and half-sister to graded stakes-winner Highly Motivated, won on debut going the Lake Placid distance June 10 over firm Monmouth Park footing.
“She’s done nothing wrong in her first two starts, she’s an exciting horse that’s lightly-raced,” Brown said. “I’m hoping to see some more development from her.”
Also representing Klaravich Stables from the Brown stable is Lake George runner-up Tax Implications , who has finished second in all three of her prior stakes endeavors. The Mehmas chestnut broke her maiden by an emphatic 6 3/4 lengths in September at Monmouth Park before finishing second beaten one length in the Chelsey Flower Oct. 28 at Belmont at the Big A. She returned in June to finish second beaten three-quarters of a length behind stablemate Liguria in the Wild Applause before rounding out the exacta by the same margin in the Lake George.
“She has been a bit of a hard-luck horse. She was finishing last out like maybe she can get the 1 1/16-miles, we’ll see,” Brown said.
Brown previously teamed up with Klaravich Stables to capture the 2021 Lake Placid with Technical Analysis , who swept that year’s Lake George-Lake Placid double en route to a victory in last year’s Ballston Spa (G2T) at Saratoga.
The remaining pair from Brown’s tetrad will see a cutback in distance from the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1T) July 8.
First Row Partners and Team Hanley’s Prerequisite entered the 10-furlong Belmont Oaks Invitational, where she finished a pacesetting second, from a win in the Wonder Again (G2T) June 11 at Belmont Park. There, she displayed frontrunning tactics for the first time and fended off a late rally from Be Your Best to win by a neck.
The Upstart bay made her career debut when fourth in a key maiden test going one mile over the Gulfstream Park turf, finishing behind next-out winners Spansive and Lake Placid aspirant Gloria’s Princess . She graduated at second asking when stretching out to nine furlongs over the Belmont inner turf on May 7.
“She’s been very honest and impressive in her development with how far she’s come. She seems to come into the race the right way and I don’t think the cutback will bother her,” Brown said.
Rounding out Brown’s quartet is RanJan Racing’s Aspray , who finished an even fourth in the Belmont Oaks as the second choice. The Quality Road bay arrives from an unbeaten record in three starts, including a stakes win in the Hilltop May 19 at Pimlico Race Course.
“She needs more pace to run at,” Brown commented. “Flavien was very adamant after her last race that we need to cut the horse back, which I agreed with.”
Bred in Kentucky by her owner, Aspray is out of the group stakes-winning Galileo mare Up.
Entries: Lake Placid S. (G2T)
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 19, 2023, Race 7
- Grade II
- 1 1/16m
- Inner turf
- $200,000
- 3 yo Fillies
- 4:26 PM (local)
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
