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Brown preps other runners for trip to Pimlico
ELMONT, N.Y. – Under cloudy skies and temperatures in the low-to-mid 60s in the Elmont area on Friday morning, Klaravich Stables’ Early Voting put together his final serious preparations for next Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.
Trained by Chad Brown, Early Voting breezed under jockey Jose Ortiz to the outside of stable mate Miles D. The pair of stakes winners went three-eighths in 36.40 seconds before completing the five furlong move in 1:00.63 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 flat over the fast main track.
“He hit the times just as I wanted and he galloped out super,” Brown said of Early Voting. “If he comes out of the breeze in good shape, then he’s on to Pimlico. Tentatively, I’m thinking of shipping the horse on Tuesday.”
The lightly raced son of leading second-crop sire Gun Runner will arrive at the Preakness off a narrow defeat in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 9 at Aqueduct, which came following an open-lengths triumph in the Grade 3 Withers two months prior.
Brown and Seth Klarman, proprietor of Klaravich Stables, scored a collaborative victory in the 2017 Preakness Stakes with Cloud Computing, who outdueled 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Classic Empire in the stretch to give both connections their first win in an American Classic.
Like Cloud Computing, Early Voting also will arrive at the Preakness off the Wood Memorial with only three starts under his belt. Cloud Computing was third in the 2017 Wood Memorial finishing seven lengths behind Irish War Cry.
“There’s a lot of similarities,” Brown said. “They both are lightly-raced, improving horses that are coming out of the Wood and could use a little more time and experience rather than throw them into a 20-horse field in the Derby.”
Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta’s Miles D also is slated for a trip to Maryland next weekend and will point to the 1 3/16-mile Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special next Friday.
The 4-year-old son of Curlin has made one start this year, finishing third to multiple graded stakes winner Olympiad in the Grade 3 Mineshaft on February 19 at Fair Grounds Race Course. Last year, he finished second in his Hall of Fame sire’s namesake race at Saratoga en route to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers the following month. He capped off his sophomore campaign with a victory over Speaker’s Corner in the Discovery on November 17 at Aqueduct.
“Miles D worked inside, he’s actually a little better outside, but it set it up that way today,” said Brown, who won the 2013 Pimlico Special with Last Gunfighter. “He got a lot of the work this morning. He missed a little time because he got sick before the Oaklawn Handicap, so we missed that race. He should appreciate the distance of the Pimlico Special.”
A $470,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Miles D is out of the Bernardini mare Sound the Trumpets, a half-sister to 2002 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Storm Flag Flying. Her respective second and third dam are 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner My Flag and undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign.
Also on the work tab for Brown this morning were Juddmonte’s Masen (GB) and Klaravich Stables’ Unanimous Consent (GB) (Almanzor {FR}), who breezed five furlongs in company in 1:02 over the inner turf.
Masen, a son of Kingman, was a close second in his North American debut for Brown in the last out Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland and will likely point to the $100,000 Seek Again on May 21 with the Grade 3, $250,000 Poker on June 18 as a backup.
“I just want to keep him at a mile right now and the race is there,” Brown said. “If I don’t run him there, I’ll rest him and train him up to the Poker next month.”
Bred in Great Britain by his owners, Masen is out of the Smart Strike mare Continental Drift, whose dam was 2005 Champion Turf Mare Intercontinental.
Brown said he will point Unanimous Consent, the undefeated winner of the last out Woodhaven at Aqueduct, to the Grade 2, $200,000 Pennine Ridge on June 4 at Belmont Park.
Klaravich Stables color bearers Consumer Spending (More Than Ready), and Technical Analysis (IRE) breezed together through five furlongs in 1:01.60 over the inner turf course.
Consumer Spending, who defeated Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca in the last out Memories of Silver on April 24 at the Big A, will point to the Grade 2, $200,000 Wonder Again on June 9 at Belmont Park. Brown previously won the nine-furlong test with Lady Eli [2015], New Money Honey [2017] and Cambier Parc [2019].
Technical Analysis, a 4-year-old daughter of Kingman, will likely target the Grade 3, $250,000 Gallorette on Pimlico’s Preakness undercard next Saturday. Brown has won three runnings of the Gallorette, the first of which came with Zagora in 2012, who won that year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Grade 1-placed Distinctlypossible (Curlin), who captured her maiden win going two turns at Keeneland last out, will target the Grade 2, $250,000 Black Eyed Susan on May 20 at Pimlico. The sophomore Curlin filly finished second to Juju’s Map in last year’s Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland before arriving off a six-month layoff in style in her last out win on April 10. She is owned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Gary Finder, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron and Team Hanley.
Brown made two trips to the winner’s circle on Thursday at Belmont, including with Jeff Drown’s New York-bred Key Point (Into Mischief), who made his second start off the layoff a winning one. The Into Mischief homebred stretched out to seven furlongs stylishly, with a 6 1/2-length victory against fellow state-bred winners over the main track. The impressive score registered a 95 Beyer.
“He performed well at seven yesterday and he gave me the impression that he would stretch out further and I’m looking forward to get him going longer,” Brown said.
Key Point is out of Polite Smile, a half-sister to graded stakes winner American Anthem, and her granddam Indy’s Windy is a half-sister to 1998 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Banshee Breeze.
NYRA Press Office
Photo: Early Voting breaking his maiden at Aqueduct Dec. 18, 2021. (NYRA/Coglianese)
