Chad Brown Trio Leading the Charge in Edgewood Stakes
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Photo: SV Photography
Dolce Zel wins the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs
Trainer Chad Brown will have three chances May 6 to capture what has been an elusive victory in the $500,000 Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G2T) on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs.
"We've been unlucky. We've run some really top horses in this race," said Brown, noting Rushing Fall and Newspaperofrecord , pre-race favorites who finished second in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
"It's been a bit of a thorn in my side, for whatever reason. Hopefully, this is our year."
The Edgewood Stakes, at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old fillies, will be run on the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard.
Brown will send the top three morning-line favorites to the Edgewood gate this year thanks to 5-2 Dolce Zel from post 5, 7-2 McKulick from post 3, and 3-1 Spicer from post 8 in a 10-horse field.
"I like where these horses should be positioned, if they all break well, in the race," Brown said Tuesday. "Hopefully, they'll be settled early, and then one of them will be good enough to win."
Dolce Zel, owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Robert LaPenta, will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. The bay daughter of Zelzal , bred by Scuderia Micolo Di Nicola Galli and C. SNC in France, is coming off a strong second-place finish in the April 9 Appalachian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association (G2T) after winning the March 12 Florida Oaks (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs.
"Dolce Zel's run a couple of races back to back, and shows good form in her North American campaign after moving over from France," said Brown, who added that a third race in eight weeks "might be a lot to ask."
Spicer, owned by Jeff Drown and Don Rachel and bred by Ran Jan Racing in Kentucky, lost the Florida Oaks to her stablemate by a head. Jose Ortiz will be aboard the bay daughter of Quality Road for her second start of the year.
"We rested her a bit. She needed a little more time to recover." Brown said. "She's fresh. Has speed. She has to work out a trip from that outside post but should be forward."
Flavien Prat will ride McKulick, a bay daughter of Frankel owned by Klaravich Stables and bred by Essafinaat in the United Kingdom. The filly hasn't run since a third-place finish in her second career start, the Miss Grillo Stakes (G2T) in October at Belmont Park.
"She's been training really well," Brown said of McKulick. "It's tough to come back off a layoff in a stake like this, but I wanted to run her against her own age group, and I think the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance is good for her."
The Edgewood Stakes field also includes Cypress Creek Equine and Arnold Bennewith's Dream Lith at 8-1, and Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey's Beechnut Trophy and John Gallegos' My Philly Twirl , both 10-1.
Dream Lith, trained by Robertino Diodoro and ridden by Ramon Vazquez, will be making her turf debut and starting from the outside post. The Medaglia d'Oro bay, who won the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in November, finished fifth in the April 2 Fantasy Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park and suffered heatstroke after the race.
Joel Politi's Kneesnhips (12-1), Marc Detampel's New Year's Eve (12-1), Reddam Racing's An Agent Mistake (15-1), and Lou Dunn Diekemper Trust's Tap Dancing Lady (20-1) round out the field.
Churchill Downs, Friday, May 06, 2022, Race 8Entries: Edgewood S. presented by Forcht Bank (G2T)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Tap Dancing Lady (KY)
Albin Jimenez
118
Ronald Kahles
20/1
2
2My Philly Twirl (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
118
Brendan P. Walsh
10/1
3
3McKulick (GB)
Flavien Prat
118
Chad C. Brown
7/2
4
4Kneesnhips (KY)
James Graham
118
Thomas M. Amoss
12/1
5
5Dolce Zel (FR)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
120
Chad C. Brown
5/2
6
6An Agent Mistake (KY)
Mario Gutierrez
118
Doug F. O'Neill
15/1
7
7Beechnut Trophy (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
118
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
10/1
8
8Spicer (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
118
Chad C. Brown
3/1
9
9New Year's Eve (KY)
Luis Saez
118
Brendan P. Walsh
12/1
10
10Dream Lith (KY)
Ramon A. Vazquez
118
Robertino Diodoro
8/1
