Brown Looks to Build on BC Success

With the added pressure of pinch-hitting for his Hall of Fame boss Bobby Frankel, the then-28-year-old Brown embraced his elevated status as the main caretaker of Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) contender Ginger Punch at Monmouth Park in 2007. With Frankel home in California attending to a terminally ill dog, Brown handled his job with the confidence of a card shark holding three aces.

 

When approached by a reporter, his handshake was firm and his attitude willing. He proudly brought Ginger Punch out of her stall to show her off, talked with certainty about her make-up and talent, and then proceeded a couple of days later to win the Distaff with her.

 

Brown had already decided at that time to leave Frankel's barn and hang out his own shingle, but Frankel, who passed away a couple of years later, has never left Brown. His training regimens are influenced by his former boss, and his association to Frankel has earned him respect among horsemen when they decide with whom to place their horses. Many have mulled over the situation and come to the conclusion that studying at Frankel University was the type of education they want in their trainers.

 

Although Brown's ascension in the training ranks didn't come immediately, it came soon enough, and his career has been tied to the Breeders' Cup World Championships since that rainy, sloppy week at Monmouth. One year later, struggling with mostly claiming horses, Brown headed west to California and scored with Maram in the 2008 Juvenile Fillies Turf, the type of victory that garners attention for a new trainer still in his 20s. 

 

"It didn't work like you'd think, where everybody calls all of a sudden wanting to give you horses after you win one," Brown said from the Keeneland apron this week, watching some of the 12 horses he's brought to Kentucky this week gallop. "That comes over time, from wins in a lot of important races. That opens people's eyes that maybe this guy and his team know what they're doing, so they give you a chance.

 

 

"The thing about coming up under Bobby and winning is that it breeds confidence. I worked for a winner, he had horses that were winners, and so you learn how to win. Luckily we've had some good horses since I've gone out on my own, and it was a perfect transition from saddling Ginger Punch and getting a Breeders' Cup win to winning one the first year I had my own stable."

 

If there were any doubters left after Brown had established himself in the ensuing six years, they disappeared after the 2014 World Championships at Santa Anita Park. There, Brown enjoyed the best Breeders' Cup since Richard Mandella won four World Championships races in 2003. Brown trainees Lady Eli, Dayatthespa, andBobby's Kitten (named by Ken Ramsey after Frankel) won Breeders' Cup events, making Brown an Eclipse Award finalist.

 

"That was a combination of hard work from my staff working together, chemistry around the barn, everything," said Brown, who hails from Mechanicville, N.Y., near Saratoga. "To have a weekend like that was so rewarding after all the time you put in."

 

Nobody wants to be pigeon-holed, but much of Brown's success has come with turf runners. Success breeds success, and Brown has earned his reputation as one of the premier turf trainers on the continent. Most of the horses sent to him now are grass runners, not unlike Frankel in his prime.

 

"It's about 75-25, the percentage of turf horses to grass horses I get," Brown said. "But that 25% is getting to be better quality all the time."

 

Indeed, Brown has had starters in the last two Breeders' Cup Classics (gr. I), saddling The Last Gunfighter to a fifth-place finish in 2013 and Zivo (eighth) last year. Normandy Invasion ran well to be fourth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) a few years back, and March won the Woody Stephens (gr. II) at Belmont Park this spring.

 

"We try and get the most out of all of them," Brown noted. "Having grass horses is fine with me. We know what to do with them, and anytime someone wants to send me a top grass horse I'm not ashamed to take it."

 

Brown will have ample opportunity to further his achievements this weekend. His dirt hope is Wavell Avenue in the Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I), but he is stocked up in the grass events. Big Blue Kitten and Slumber, both grade I winners this season, contest the Longines Turf (gr. IT). The Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT), which Brown won last year with Dayatthespa and in 2012 with Zagora, features Brown runners Stephanie's Kitten, Dacita, and Watsdachances. Bobby's Kitten, who won the TwinSpires Turf Sprint (gr. IT) a year ago, is back to defend. These are the races that feature the most competition from Europe, making them that much harder to win. And making the victories that much sweeter.

 

"We love to participate in these races; my owners have a great experience at Breeders' Cup, so it's great for the barn and for business," said Brown. "These races are seen by important people, and somewhere along the line, if you do well, they will have a conversation with you. It leads to better horses."