Brown's Filly Named for McKulick Wins on Debut

For a trainer with four Eclipse Awards, 15 Breeders' Cup wins, and slightly more than 2,000 career victories, a maiden win can be a routine experience.

But not for Chad Brown as he stood outside the winner's circle Aug. 8 after the second race at Saratoga Race Course.

There was a special emotion as he talked about the 2-year-old filly who had just won on debut by 1 1/2 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight test on the turf.

The filly is a daughter of Frankel , the great European champion named after Brown's mentor, the late Hall of Fame trainer, Bobby Frankel.

Yet there was much more tugging at Brown's heartstrings as he watched Klaravich Stables' McKulick  cross the wire first as part of a 4-5 entry ($3.90).

The filly was named for Mary McKulick, who was the very first person Brown hired when he opened his own stable in 2007. McKulick passed away last year and Brown vowed to find a filly with enough talent to be a worthy bearer of his longtime friend's name.

He appears to have found one in the bay daughter of the Makfi  mare Astrelle.

"Mary was my bookkeeper and office manager and right hand," Brown said. "Without her there's no way I could have built this company up the way we did and be as successful as we've been. Sadly she passed shortly after she retired due to lung cancer. She worked her whole life to enjoy her retirement and it was taken away from her. I really wanted to name a horse after her and it's just so fitting that it's a daughter of Frankel. That's how things work out."

In a series of Oct. 24, 2020, tweets after McKulick's death, Brown said "Heaven gained an angel." 

"She had quite the career in the industry quietly," Brown said Sunday. "It goes to show you how many people are behind the scenes in the this industry. She (worked) for Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher. Everyone who worked with her was appreciative that they did. She lived a wonderful life. She was all about the horses, her family, her grandkids, her children, her husband, and she was one of my best friends."

On the equine side, Brown said McKulick was picked out for him and Klaravich owner Seth Klarman by Mike and Mary Ryan at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, where the filly was purchased for $245,370. She was bred in Great Britain by Essafinaat UK. 

Brown also voiced appreciation to Ian Brennan at Stonestreet for preparing the filly for her racing career.

The race produced a 1-2 finish for Brown, who took home second money with another first-time starter in Klaravichs' Consumer Spending , a daughter of More Than Ready   out of the Scat Daddy mare Siempre Mia.

As it turned out she was second-best to a young filly who will keep alive a very special memory for Brown.

"Her spirit will live on forever through our stable," Brown tweeted last year, "each win a reminder that we are living in the house Mary built."