Program Trading (GB) and jockey Flavien Prat at Keeneland before shipping to Del Mar. (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
Breeders’ Cup Closer Look
While most people are focusing on Trainer Chad Brown’s entries in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Sierra Leone looking to repeat aside stablemate Contrary Thinking the seasoned conditioner has several other starters this weekend.
Brown brings his fifth starter to the $1 million Dirt Mile with Flanagan Racing’s dual Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick, a son of McKinzie who is hoping to end his career on a high note. Previously, Brown finished fourth with Practical Joke (2017) and Complexity (2020), ninth with Pipeline (2022) and third with Domestic Product (2024).
“It’s his final race and he’s going off to (stud duties at) Spendthrift (Farm) after this, but I will say he’s blooming right now,” Brown explained. “He’s been putting on weight, he’s shining, and he’s been training as well as he’s trained all year. With a horse like that, my approach is that he’s got these 2-year-old numbers that were so good and was definitely the top juvenile on the east coast, and if he runs through those numbers, he’s capable of having a good race.”
After winning the Hopeful (G1) and Champagne (G1) in 2024, he entered the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) as a serious player, but disappointed in sixth as the 2-1 second choice. In 2025, he has five runs, a win in the Curlin Stakes (Listed) and most recently ran with credit when fourth in the H. Allen Jerkens (G1) on Aug. 23.
“Last year, he exited the Juvenile with a huge quarter-crack behind and a fresh chip in his front ankle, so I’m not certain he didn’t like Del Mar’s track,” Brown said. “It looks to be a quick race and that will be good for him.”
Chancer McPatrick drew post 8 of 10 and will be ridden by Jose Ortiz for the first time. He was assigned morning-line odds of 15-1.
CHANCER MCPATRICK was on the track this morning at Del Mar preparing for the @BreedersCup Dirt Mile. pic.twitter.com/kHZND92wf7
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 27, 2025
“I’ve been knocking on the door in this race,” he continued. “I’ve had a third and a couple fourths in there with horses who were going off to stud, the Practical Jokes and Domestic Products of the world, who made non-threatening runs, but definitely grabbed a piece. I think at a minimum, he’s a player for something like that. He is also proven around two turns and ran a good race outside his comfort zone in a paceless, mile-and-an-eighth Curlin at Saratoga.
“If he gets a nuclear pace up front, I’ll say this about his (speed) numbers—he comes in with a pair of good numbers and a nice rest coming in, so if he progresses off of that, he could be a real player in this race,” Brown concluded. “He doesn’t have to run the fastest speed figure to win this race and he’s doing well coming into it.”
Brown would naturally prefer to be the favorite in a $5 million race such as the Longines Turf, but nonetheless has confidence his longshot duo of Amo Racing’s Hill Road and Klaravich Stables’ Redistricting (GB) are coming into America’s premier grass race well enough to hold their collective own.
“Hill Road breaks well usually and was drawn wide (in post 13 of 14) and he doesn’t have much turn-of-foot,” Brown explained. “With that, he’s going to have to knife in somewhere and kind of stay and get a piece of this.”
Hill Road, third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) for previous conditioner Adrian Murray, was transferred to Brown with Triple Crown trail intentions, which were enhanced after a smart victory in the Peter Pan (G3). When those aspirations vanished through the spring, thanks to a fifth in the Belmont (G1), he was returned to the grass, running respectable thirds in the Nashville Derby (G3) and Jockey Club Derby (G2). He attempts 12 furlongs on Saturday for the first time.
Meanwhile, Redistricting has long been well regarded solely on the sod, being a son of champion Kingman out of a full-sister to 2011 Turf winner St Nicholas Abbey—a pedigree point that makes his relishing of longer distances in 2025 make that much more sense. Stretched to the three-turn layout in the 11-furlong United Nations (G2) and 12-furlong Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) in his most recent two runs, he has rewarded Brown with a win and runner-up effort.
“Redistricting drew cozy (post 4) and that horse is another who will like the shorter-cut turf here at Del Mar,” Brown continued. “He had a big gap behind the favorite in the race in his last start, which doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy having to go in again and run against Rebel’s Romance, but he will like this course.
“He’s still improving and it’s a $5 million race,” Brown concluded. “I’m not confused about his chances, but for this purse and how he’s doing, I think he could get a piece of this race with a good inside draw, especially, and he got that. I have a top jockey on him (Flavien Prat) and we will try to map out a good trip. At a minimum, we could get a nice forward trip in the pocket, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Brown has started 14 runners in the Turf, winning with Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence’s Bricks and Mortar in 2019.
Dual Grade 1 winner and Breeders’ Cup Mile contender Program Trading (GB) looks to get back to the form that won him the Turf Classic (G1) last year and enters off a promising runner-up finish in the G1 Turf Mile at Keeneland for trainer Chad Brown and owner Klaravich Stables.
“I wanted to take a shot with him here,” Brown said. “He definitely lacks the turn-of-foot. He’s not slow, but he doesn’t have the acceleration you would want at a mile, even though he’s bred to be a miler. That said, I want to take this shot because his race in the (Grade 1) Hollywood Derby (in 2023) was so good that he might be able to accelerate a little better on this ground—at least I’m hoping so.
“If he can pick up his turn-of-foot by loving Del Mar—and if he drew cozy, which he drew pretty good (in post 5 of 13)—I thought he would be worth taking a shot here,” Brown continued. “He’s definitely back at the level of when he won the Turf Classic, but again, that was at a mile and an eighth, so we are hoping for the best here. He’s definitely doing very, very well.”
A 19-time Breeders’ Cup winner, Brown seeks his second Mile trophy, having taken the 2019 edition with Uni (GB). Seth Klarman’s Klaravich operation seeks its third Breeders’ Cup win, following 2018 Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Newspaperofrecord (Ire) and 2019 Turf winner Bricks and Mortar.
