Brown: Undefeated Shagaf Has Room to Improve

Shadwell's homebred 3-year-old Shagaf has won his three starts by a combined margin of almost 10 lengths, but trainer Chad Brown believes he hasn't reached his limit.

Shagaf, who never has raced less than one mile and won the grade III Gotham Stakes at 1 1/16 miles in his last start March 5, is one of two colts Brown plans to run in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I) at Aqueduct Racetrack. The other is Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Flexibility, winner of the grade III Jerome Stakes in January.

Thus far, Shagaf hasn't gotten a lot attention on the Triple Crown trail despite his perfect record. Brown, who participated in an April 5 media teleconference, said he isn't surprised.

"I think the main reason is his speed figures haven't been super-impressive or really fast," he said. "But he's undefeated and is proven to have a tremendous amount of stamina. The faster horses will garner most of the attention.

"He has already made a lot of progress, but I do see room for further improvement."

Should the Bernardini   colt go on to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), Brown said he would ship him to Churchill Downs early so he could get acclimated. Shagaf would have two workouts and "plenty of schooling," Brown said.

"He's a smart horse," Brown said.

Shagaf and Flexibility, by Bluegrass Cat  , worked in company April 2 at Belmont Park and went a half-mile in :48 2/5. Brown said the works were for maintenance purposes and so he could see how the colts were moving.

"It's not ideal to run (both colts in the same Derby prep), but when you're close to the Derby or any target race, there are only so many suitable prep races, especially in a regional situation," Brown said. "It takes out of play the races you may be interested in if you're only going to ship so far."

Brown entered Sheep Pond Partners, Newport Stables, and Jay Bligh's My Man Sam, a maiden winner by Trappe Shot  , in the April 9 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland. Brown said the colt has "been terrific" since the stretch out to two turns, but drawing post 14 in the 14-horse Blue Grass field was a disappointment.

Brown and his team are known for winning many races at the highest level but not necessarily for bringing along younger horses for the 3-year-old classics. He said he expects that will change.

"It's very exciting," Brown said. "It's definitely an area we want to become a major player in. These are three very capable horses if they show up in their prep races."