Sistercharlie Seeks Sixth Straight Grade 1 Victory

With more than 275 graded stakes wins to his credit in 11-plus years as a trainer, Chad Brown has conditioned some of the best horses of the past decade.

His list of champions includes Lady Eli, Good Magic , and Flintshire , as well as his most recent recipient of an Eclipse Award who has already reached exulted status among the horses who have helped Brown amass more than $171 million in earnings.

"Sistercharlie is a remarkable mare, and absolutely she's right up there at the top with the best horses I've trained," Brown said.

Rest assured, those words are not spoken in a flippant manner. Heading into the $500,000 Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T) for fillies and mares at Belmont Park Oct. 6, she is poised to achieve a status that could place her above virtually every other American-based horse in the past 46 years.

With five consecutive wins, all of them in grade 1 stakes, Sistercharlie finds herself bunched statistically with a collection of the sport's most famous stars, and Sunday she just might move ahead of them. 

Since the graded stakes era began in 1973, no United States runner has come close to Zenyatta, who reeled off nine straight grade 1 wins from 2009-10. Behind her comes some of the sport's immortals with five straight wins in stakes that were grade or group 1 at the time. That group features Gun Runner , American Pharoah , Wise Dan, Rachel Alexandra, Skip Away, Cigar, Paseana, Easy Goer, Spectacular Bid, Affirmed, Seattle Slew, and … Sistercharlie.

Should Sistercharlie prevail as a heavy favorite, she would move ahead of that pack into some highly rarefied air.

"There are so many superlatives you can say about her," Brown said. "She's just an amazing mare."

Sistercharlie will face six rivals, and they will be hard-pressed to stop her winning streak in the 1 1/4-mile test. The only one with a graded stakes win is Andrew Stone's Mrs. Sippy, a daughter of Blame  who won the Aug. 31 Glens Falls Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course for trainer Graham Motion in her first U.S. start and looms as the main rival Sunday.

In contrast, after finishing second in last year's New York Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2T), the daughter of Myboycharlie has won five grade 1s on turf in succession: the Diana, Beverly D., and Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in 2018—when she was voted champion turf female—and the Diana and Beverly D. this year.

The first of Sistercharlie's six career top-level wins came in the 2018 Coolmore Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland.

"She has all of the qualities that make her an all-time great racehorse. She has turn of foot, consistency, a great mind," said Brown, who owns five Flower Bowl Stakes victories. "She takes good care of herself in her daily training and races. She's not hard on herself. She does what she has to do when she needs to do it."

This will be only the third start of the year for a mare Brant bought in 2017 while she was racing in Europe, illustrating Brown's biggest challenge with her. Minor setbacks—a spider bite, kicking her stall and injuring her hoof, and a lung infection, to name a few—have limited her to just seven starts in 2018 and 2019, showcasing Brown's masterful work in continually bringing her back to the races in top form.

"I'm fortunate she came around at a time in my career when I had enough experience to make the right adjustments with a horse of this caliber," the 40-year-old Brown said. "I don't know if I would have made all the right calls earlier in my career. Timing is everything, and she came along at a time when we were able to manage her right, and she's showed up every time we asked her."

Though there will be temptations to run Sistercharlie against males in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), Brown said he and Brant are focused on Sistercharlie becoming the first back-to-back winner of the Filly and Mare Turf.

"We have not discussed the Turf as an option now," Brown said. "It looks like she'll go in the Filly and Mare Turf."

Brant has yet to decide whether Sistercharlie will race at 6, creating the possibility she could tangle with the top males a year from now.

Bred in Ireland by Ecurie Des Monceaux out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, Sistercharlie has won nine of 13 starts and earned $3,207,003.

She has post 2 Sunday with regular rider John Velazquez.

The winner of the Flower Bowl will not have to worry about the costs of running in the 1 1/4-mile Filly and Mare Turf. The stakes is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and offers a free "Win and You're In spot" in the Nov. 2 race at Santa Anita Park.

Sunday also promises to be an unforgettable day for Brant. In addition to Sistercharlie, the Connecticut horseman will also send out Sottsass, a 3-year-old half brother to Sistercharlie, to face Enable in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) and Dunbar Road to take on Elate and Blue Prize in the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.

"It's going to be quite a day on two continents," said Brant, who will also be represented in the Flower Bowl by Thais, who figures to play her customary role as a pacesetting rabbit for Sistercharlie in the field of seven.

The Flower Bowl, with a post time of 4:47 p.m. ET, is scheduled as the eighth race on a 10-race card that starts as 12:45 p.m. 

There will be television coverage of the Belmont Park card on Fox Sports 2 from 2-5:30 p.m. and on MSG Networks from 4-6 p.m.

Entries: Flower Bowl S. (G1T)

Belmont Park, Sunday, October 06, 2019, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1 1/4m
• Inner turf
• $500,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:47 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Ferdinanda (VA)	Junior Alvarado	119	Barclay Tagg	30/1
2	2Sistercharlie (IRE)	John R. Velazquez	123	Chad C. Brown	1/5
3	3Mrs. Sippy (KY)	Joel Rosario	121	H. Graham Motion	5/1
4	4Empressof the Nile (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	119	H. Graham Motion	12/1
5	5Thais (FR)	Manuel Franco	119	Chad C. Brown	10/1
6	6Lantiz (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	119	Rodolphe Brisset	20/1
7	7Beau Belle (KY)	Jose Lezcano	119	Thomas Albertrani	30/1