Romans Ready for Return of Brody's Cause

It's two days before Dale Romans will send out grade I winner Brody's Cause for his 2016 debut in the $350,000 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) and the trainer is resting in a darkened Tampa area hotel room trying to recuperate from illness that has slowed him since a trip to Dubai last month.

Romans sounds exhausted and sick, but despite the flu, he still takes a few moments to talk with a reporter. When the subject turns to Brody's Cause, his voice picks up.

"He looked good this morning," Romans says.

Romans has become a fixture at the Triple Crown races in recent years as he has sent out a classic winner or placer in five of the past six seasons. In 2010 Romans had a horse place in all three legs of the Triple Crown; First Dude   ran second in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and third in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) after Paddy O'Prado   placed third in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

The following year Shackleford   brought Romans classic glory in the Preakness. Since then Romans has had Dullahan run third in the 2012 Derby, Medal Count   finish third in the 2014 Belmont, and Keen Ice place third in last year's Belmont won by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  . Later in the year Romans and Keen Ice upset American Pharoah in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) in what would prove the lone 2015 loss for the Triple Crown winner.

Romans says Brody's Cause, like each of those horses, is a unique individual. He tries to adjust his classic prep schedule to those individual horses.

"I've looked back at all of them and it's amazing how different they all are and how equally talented they all are," Romans remarks. "It's refreshing to know that good ones can come from anywhere, all shapes, all sizes; with different mentalities."

For Brody's Cause that plan included a more than four-month layoff after the son of Giant's Causeway   closed out his four-race juvenile campaign with a third-place finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) at Keeneland. A cornerstone in Romans' plans for this year's pre-classic schedule for Brody's Cause was a final Kentucky Derby prep in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) at the Lexington track, where the Giant's Causeway   colt won the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (gr. I).

BALAN: Brody's Cause Storms Home in Futurity

The trainer then decided to go with just two starts before the Derby, an approach that certainly worked last year for American Pharoah. Romans decided the timing of the Tampa Bay Derby was the best fit for the 3-year-old debut of Brody's Cause.

"You don't want to come up to the Kentucky Derby and have a tired horse," the trainer explains. "I thought two races would be right. I'm assuming I'm going to be successful and run two more times right after the Derby. So I thought we'd be better served to bring a horse in off two starts and race a long summer campaign."

That approach meant that Brody's Cause would have to progress through morning workouts. Since Jan. 18, he has worked eight times at a half-mile or five furlongs, seven breezes at Gulfstream Park followed by a nice half-mile breeze March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Albaugh Family Stable's contender thrived during that time. In his first official move of the year, he earned the bullet going four furlongs in :47.74. In February, he would register a another bullet move at Gulfstream, going five furlongs in :58.71.

Beyond those fast works, Brody's Cause also showed steady progress as each of the final seven works was never more than seven days after the previous move. The eight-work sequence was capped with that March 6 move at Tampa where he completed four furlongs in :48 2/5, sixth-fastest of 72 at the distance.

Now there's that little detail of running a race, a tough one to come back in. The field of nine going 1 1/16 miles includes recent Sam F. Davis Stakes (gr. III) winner Destin, who will make his fourth start of the season; grade II-winning sprinter Awesome Banner, grade III winner Riker, as well as other promising sophomore runners.

But Brody's Cause has been strong in the mornings; impressive enough to make an ill trainer want to get out of bed.