WITH less than a week to go before Big Brown colt Brown Almighty faces his moment of glory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, his sire’s first season tally of winners has grown to 13 thanks to a debut victory by Brown Laddie.
Brown Laddie (c, 2, Big Brown x Galway Lass (Victory Gallop)) was slowly away, angled off the inside on the turn and bumped repeatedly with Summah (Tenpins) in the stretch.
With only a nose seperating them, Brown Laddie crossed the line second to Summah but was quickly awarded the race by the stewards to become the 11th U.S winner for his freshman sire.
A $10,000 yearling at Keeneland January, Brown Laddie matured into a $175,000 Keeneland September yearling.
Brown Laddie’s first start win at Hoosier Park in the US this weekend serves a pre-cursor to Brown Almighty’s Breeders’ Cup quest.
The Breeders’ Cup colt worked brilliantly at Keeneland on the grass also of Friday going five furlongs (abt 1000m) in 1:0.2 3/5s.
“He looked like he worked good,” said trainer Tim Ice, who saddled Summer Bird to a fourth in the GI Classic in 2009.
“He finished up really nice, came home the last quarter in :23 and change. So I’m very excited, “Ice continued, “It’s just a matter of seeing how he comes back and off to Santa Anita.”
Big Brown is one of only seven first season sires likely to have a runner at Santa Anita at the two-day Breeders’ Cup carnival which starts on November 1.
“Big brown is siring winners seemingly every day in the U.S and Europe, it’s hard to keep up with them.” Vinery Stud’s Conor Phelan.
“If he was able to sire a Breeders’ Cup winner or placegetter for that matter, it would obviously be an enormous feather in his cap given that a lot of people thought he’d be a 3YO sire, which he very well may be, but his 2YO’s are showing plenty of speed, quality and precocity which is a fact I am sure won’t be lost on trainers and breeders here in Australia as his first years go to sale in a few months time.”
