Brown Duo of McKulick and Kinchen Top Miss Grillo

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Brown Duo of McKulick and Kinchen Top Miss Grillo
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
McKulick wins her debut at Saratoga Race Course

As usual, Chad Brown holds a strong hand in the $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park Oct. 2. The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has notched eight prior victories in the 1 1/16-mile turf test for juvenile fillies, the most recent of which came with Selflessly  in 2019.

This year he starts the formidable duo in McKulick  and Kinchen  in the race, which regularly serves as a launching pad for its top finishers into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T). This year's Breeders' Cup is Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar in California.

Klaravich Stables' McKulick and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Kinchen worked five-eighths in company Sept. 26 over the Belmont inner turf in 1:02.09.

McKulick is named for the late Mary McKulick, a longtime office manager and bookkeeper for Brown and the first person the trainer hired when he launched his operation in 2007. The Frankel  filly graduated on debut in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden Aug. 8 at Saratoga Race Course.

Hail To - MSW - SAR - 082921
Photo: Coglianese Photos
Hail To defeats Kinchen in a maiden special weight at Saratoga

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Kinchen, by Lope de Vega , rallied to finish second in her Aug. 29 debut at 1 1/16 miles on the Saratoga inner turf under Tyler Gaffalione, losing by three-quarters of a length to Miss Grillo rival Hail To  after some traffic issues and a slow break.

"I felt if she could have got out to the clear, she probably would have won," Brown said. 

Kinchen is named in honor of the late Ralph Kinchen, father of America's Day at the Races analyst Jonathon Kinchen. 

Irad Ortiz Jr. will pilot McKulick from the outermost post 6, while Gaffalione has the call aboard Kinchen from post 4.

Woodslane Farm's Hail To, a full sister to grade 1 winner Sadler's Joy , lit up the tote board when breaking her maiden at second asking at 20-1 odds for trainer Tom Albertrani. The Kitten's Joy   chestnut, out of the Dynaformer  mare Dynaire , settled in fifth position under Ricardo Santana Jr. before rallying six-wide down the lane to best Kinchen.

Other entrants include Tracy Farmer's Philly Eagles , Treadway Racing Stable's multiple stakes-placed Sail By , and Judy Hicks' homebred Charlee O .

Another graded stakes race on grass Saturday at Belmont is the $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational Stakes (G3T), which drew a competitive field racing six furlongs.

Lael Stables' Arrest Me Red  won the 5 1/2-furlong Mahony Stakes last out by a neck on firm Saratoga turf while making her debut for trainer Wesley Ward. The 3-year-old Pioneerof the Nile  bay won the six-furlong Atlantic Beach Stakes in November on the Aqueduct Racetrack turf for former conditioner Arnaud Delacour.

Christophe Clement saddled the winner of three of the previous five runnings of the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational, scoring with Pure Sensation  (2016) and Disco Partner   (2017-18).

He will be represented Saturday by Oak Bluff Stables' Therapist , a stakes winner in state-bred and open company.

Gatsas Stables' Backtohisroots  stumbled at the start of last year's Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational, unseating Jose Lezcano. The 5-year-old Mark Valeski  gelding returned to action off nearly a one-year layoff last out with a runner-up effort to returning rival Pulsate  in the 5 1/2-furlong Lucky Coin Stakes Sept. 3 at Saratoga. 

Also entered are Buy Land and See , Guildsman , Chewing Gum , Belgrano , and the versatile older mare, Piedi Bianchi .

The latter will scratch to run Oct. 6 in the $150,000 Cardinal Stakes at Indiana Grand against state-bred opposition, trainer Carlos Martin said.


Entries: Miss Grillo S. (G2T)

Belmont Park, Saturday, October 02, 2021, Race 4

  • Grade II
  • 1 1/16m
  • Inner turf
  • $200,000
  • 2 yo Fillies
  • 2:33 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Sail By (KY) Junior Alvarado 120 Leah Gyarmati 8/1
2 2Charlee O (KY) Manuel Franco 120 Michelle Nevin 20/1
3 3Hail To (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 120 Thomas Albertrani 7/2
4 4Kinchen (IRE) Tyler Gaffalione 118 Chad C. Brown 5/2
5 5Philly Eagles (IRE) Dylan Davis 120 Mark E. Casse 8/1
6 6McKulick (GB) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Chad C. Brown 1/1


Entries: Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational S. (G3T)

Belmont Park, Saturday, October 02, 2021, Race 9

  • Grade III
  • 6f
  • Inner turf
  • $200,000
  • 3 yo's & up
  • 5:14 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Piedi Bianchi (IN)Keeneland Sales Graduate Charles Roberts 121 Carlos F. Martin 20/1
2 2Backtohisroots (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Luis Saez 120 John P. Terranova II 3/1
3 3Arrest Me Red (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Wesley A. Ward 5/1
4 4Buy Land and See (PA) Jose L. Ortiz 120 Anthony W. Dutrow 10/1
5 5Therapist (NY) Tyler Gaffalione 120 Christophe Clement 9/2
6 6Guildsman (FR) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 126 Robert N. Falcone, Jr. 10/1
7 7Pulsate (KY) Manuel Franco 124 Robert Ribaudo 7/2
8 8Belgrano (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Junior Alvarado 124 Frank Russo 8/1
9 9Chewing Gum (KY) Eric Cancel 120 William I. Mott 8/1