SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. � The expectation that Chad Brown would dominate the trainer standings for the third straight summer at Saratoga has not come to fruition. Yet.
After a two-week lull where he won just three races from 32 in which he had at least one starter, Brown won five races last week.
Through the first 24 days of racing, Brown has 18 wins from 86 starters and is tied for the meet lead in wins with Todd Pletcher, himself a 13-time leading trainer at Saratoga.
"We had a couple of weeks that were lean," Brown said. "When you have a combination of some unfortunate trips, a handful of horses who ran into horses that were better than them, it happens. Add in a few horses that just didn't fire, you can get in a (slow) stretch when you're entering a lot of horses. The other thing is running entries, when they both get beat it makes it look worse than it is."
From July 24 through Aug. 8, Brown started 39 horses in 32 races. Last week, he started 16 horses 13 races. He had five wins, six seconds, and two thirds.
"I know we got a nice group of horses, a lot of horses are running really well, even if they don't win, at least they were in the money," Brown said. "I'm not too worried about it."
On Saturday, Brown won three races, including the $500,000 Saratoga Derby with Domestic Spending, who beat Gufo by a head. Domestic Spending earned a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
"He got a great trip and the horse really stepped up," Brown said. "He was giving us the impression in the morning that he was moving forward each week and he did."
Brown said he didn't have a specific spot picked out for Domestic Spending, though the Grade 1, $500,000 Belmont Derby Invitational at 1 \ miles, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 3, is possible.
Also on Saturday, Brown sent out a good-looking 2-year-old colt in Public Sector, who won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by two lengths, earning a 74 Beyer Speed Figure. Brown said he would look to run Public Sector, a son of Kingman, in the Grade 2, $150,000 Pilgrim Stakes, also tentatively scheduled for Oct. 3.
"He's trained like a good one since we got him. We weren't surprised by any means," Brown said.
There are only two graded stakes this week at Saratoga, but Brown will be well represented in both of them. In Saturday's Grade 1 Fourstardave, Brown is expected to have the quartet of Raging Bull, Uni, Valid Point, and Without Parole.
On Sunday, Uni, second in last year's Fourstardave to Got Stormy, worked five furlongs over the Oklahoma turf course in 1:00.48 in company with Newspaperofrecord, who is pointing to the Distaff Turf Mile on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.
Jose Ortiz will ride Uni in the Fourstardave, Brown said, as Joel Rosario, who had been her regular rider, will keep his seat on Raging Bull, who he also regularly rides. Raging Bull and Without Parole worked five furlongs in 1:00.88 together on Friday. Valid Point, winner of the Grade 1 Secretariat last year at Arlington but most recently eighth in the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont, worked a half-mile in 48.27 seconds Saturday over Saratoga's main track.
Others expected for the Fourstardave are Got Stormy, Casa Creed, and Emmaus, and possibly Halladay.
In Sunday's Grade 1 Diana, a race he has won four consecutive years, Brown will send out Sistercharlie and Rushing Fall. Sistercharlie has won the Diana each of the last two years. Rushing Fall, second to Sistercharlie in last year's Diana, is coming off a victory in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland.
On Sunday, the two worked together, five furlongs in 1:01.72 over the Oklahoma turf course, getting their final quarter in 23.84 while galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.44.
Also expected for the Diana are Starship Jubilee and Call Me Love � the 1-2 finishers ahead of Sistercharlie in the Ballston Spa � and Mean Mary, winner of the Grade 2 New York Stakes and winner of four straight.
