Brown Sets Saratoga Meet Record With 39 Wins
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Photo: Chad B. Harmon
Chad Brown
Mexican Gold's victory in the 10th race at Saratoga Race Course Sept. 4 marked trainer Chad Brown's 39th win of the meet, breaking the single-season record that stood for five years.
Brown, who surpassed Todd Pletcher's previous record of 38 wins set in 2011, also clinched his first Saratoga training title Sunday afternoon.
The 39-year-old native of nearby Mechanicville, N.Y. finished second to Pletcher in the standings for the H. Allen Jerkens training title at the Spa for the past five years.
"It really feels like a dream come true," said Brown, the leading trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit in 2015. "I'm really just like the lead singer of a band; the people behind me make the music. I'm here right now giving the interview, but I have 150 employees and every single one of them I find to be highly skilled and highly dependable in working as a team. I have several employees who do things that I can't do and I do some things they can't do. But we all pitch in and do our job and this is truly a team effort. I'm just a lucky guy to be able to wake up and go to the barn and have them working with me."
Brown said registering his 1,000th career victory at Saratoga on Aug. 24 was a special highlight for him.
"I'd have to go with the 1,000th win because this is all where it came about for me," Brown said. "Right here in the picnic area at Saratoga, that's where horse racing first captured me and changed my whole life; my outlook on life and what I wanted to do with my life. From that point forward it's been a way of life and not just a job. For me to reach this success with my team right here at my home track at the very place that changed my career ambitions it's just a dream come true."
Among the other highlights of Brown's Saratoga meet were Flintshire's win in the Longines Sword Dancer (gr. IT), Dacita's victory in the Diana (gr. IT), Camelot Kitten's win in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (gr. IIT), Ancient Secret's victory in the Lake George (gr. IIT), and Guapaza's win in the Fasig-Tipton Waya (gr. IIIT).
Brown has won six of the 11 graded stakes run on flat turf courses this meet.