Pompa, Brown Connect on Dirt in Pa. Derby

Trainer Chad Brown wins turf races like Babe Ruth hit home runs—frequently and spectacularly. Owner Paul Pompa Jr., no stranger to success himself with Thoroughbreds, wants to help Brown cross over and become as well known for stakes winners on dirt as he is on grass.

“Last year we sent Chad two or three nice colts for the dirt,” said the New York-based Pompa. “He’s best known as a turf trainer and I told him we’re going to connect on a dirt horse. That’s how Connect got his name.”

Connect made a name for himself Sept. 24 by defeating an all-star cast of 3-year-olds in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II). He has won four of five races this season, including the Curlin Stakes, named for his sire, and has returned to Pompa $950,000 against the owner’s $150,000 bid that landed teh colt at the Fasig-Tipton July sale two years ago. Although he had some issues that kept him from running early in his career, Connect has always been held in high regard around the barn.

“Chad gets right to the point,” noted Pompa. “He tells you if he likes a horse or doesn’t. I paid a lot for one of the colts I sent him, and even before Connect broke his maiden, Chad said that colt doesn’t breathe the same air that Connect breathes.”

His connections have plenty of options with the colt, including possible runs in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Cigar Mile, and/or Clark Handicap (all gr. I). He is the latest success story for Pompa, who burst on the scene eight years as the owner and then co-owner of dual classic winner Big Brown  , named for the nickname of United Parcel Service, with whom Pompa, who owns a trucking company based in Brooklyn, does business.

The owner has enjoyed a steady stream of stakes winners since, 14 of whom were graded stakes victors. Today he has 35 in training split among Brown, Todd Pletcher, and Pat Reynolds, and also has a productive broodmare band of seven.

One of those mares, Mrs. Revere Stakes (gr. II) winner Mary's Follies, hit with her first runner, Night Prowler, who last year won the Dania Beach and Transylvania stakes (both gr. III) for Pompa. She also issued Casses Story, a 2-year-old  Bernardini   colt who broke his maiden at Saratoga this summer.

This season, in addition to Connect, Pompa has won graded events with Converge (Palm Beach Stakes, gr. III) and Tommy Macho (Fred W. Hooper Stakes, gr. III).

Connect is from the same female family as Pompa’s Backseat Rhythm, winner of the 2008 Garden City Stakes (gr. I).

“Connect may have the best pedigree of any horse I’ve owned,” said Pompa. “You get a rush as an owner no matter what type of race you win. But this Pennsylvania Derby, beating Nyquist, Exaggerator, and Gun Runner along with other quality horses, was a major rush and a major win.”

And perhaps a significant connector between owner and trainer.