Concrete Rose Runs Down Newspaperofrecord in Edgewood

Concrete Rose turned the tables on Newspaperofrecord May 3 at Churchill Downs. 

Back at the site of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), where Newspaperofrecord romped in November while Concrete Rose finished eighth, the latter was favored at 1-5 in the $250,000 Edgewood Stakes Presented by Forcht Bank (G3T).

But Concrete Rose had an edge over her rival, with a March 9 victory in the Florida Oaks (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs for Ashbrook Farm and BBN Racing, while Newspaperofrecord was unraced since her Breeders' Cup score.

In the end, that extra start made all the difference.

While Newspaperofrecord took the lead in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies, Concrete Rose settled fourth early under Julien Leparoux. Setting strong fractions of :23.53, :47.87, and 1:12.68, Newspaperofrecord hit the stretch with a 2 1/2-length lead and looked like she might carry on, but that was when Concrete Rose kicked into high gear and caught her rival with a sixteenth to run. 

"My filly was relaxed the whole time, and she made a big run at the end," Leparoux said. "I rode the race, not paying attention to (Newspaperofrecord). I just wanted to pay attention to my filly. She was traveling good and was relaxed. I got out at the quarter pole and started asking her, and I knew she was going to give a big kick. She ran a big race today."

Concrete Rose drew off to a 3 3/4-length victory, finishing the distance on turf labeled "good" in 1:43.34.

The victory was the third in the race for trainer Rusty Arnold, who won with Darien Miss in 1988 and Everhope in 1996. Leparoux won the race in 2010 with Dynazaper.

"I had confidence in her training well, but I wasn't sure that we were good enough to beat Chad's filly," Arnold said. "She's a top filly. But you can only train yours. We might have had an edge today. We had run and he hadn't. I thought we were going to get a piece of it turning for home because she was running. But I'm so used to Chad, he's tough to beat and his horses keep going."

This time Concrete Rose was the one who kept going, right into the winner's circle, where owner Glenn Bromagen of Ashbrook Farm sat holding a glass trophy almost as big as his torso, surrounded by friends and family.

"I've worked for him about 40 years, and now I work for his son, so it doesn't get any better than that. It's really nice," Arnold said. 

Bromagen's son, Bo Bromagen, was also savoring the win.

"Having my dad here and my mom, that's a very, very special opportunity. Plus we have a great group of partners that we're just really excited to share this experience with," he said. "And obviously with this kind of scene and this kind of group of people behind you, you want to show up and run well."

The victory was worth $151,900 and boosted Concrete Rose's bankroll to $418,600 with four wins from five starts, her lone loss that off-the-board Breeders' Cup finish. Off at odds of 5-1, she returned $13.80, $3.40, and $2.80. Newspaperofrecord, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., returned $2.10 and $2.10, with Winter Sunset finishing another 2 1/2 lengths back in third, paying $3.80 to show.

Trainer Chad Brown said he hopes Newspaperofrecord will benefit from her season debut.

"She just wasn't fit enough today," he said. "Irad said she was a little keen early on turf—it looks pretty soft—and she set some strong fractions, :47 and change early. I was a little concerned. She just ran out of gas the last part of it. Hopefully, she gets a lot out of this race. It's unfortunate she's no longer undefeated, but we'll have to go on. We have a really good horse. We'll have to see what we'll do with her next."

It was another neck back to Cambier Parc, who was followed in order by New Roo, Fortunate Girl, and Destiny Over Fate.

Bred in Kentucky by Ron Patterson out of the Powerscourt mare Solerina, Concrete Rose was a $61,000 purchase last year by agent David Ingordo from White Pine Thoroughbreds' consignment to the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.