Brown Almighty who was the first stakes-winner for Vinery’s 4-time Gr1-winning shuttler Big Brown (Boundary-Mien, by Nureyev) back in August, will attempt to switch from turf to dirt on Monday when he lines up in the US$150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park.
The race is the first of Oaklawn’s three lead-ups to the US$1 million Gr1 Arkansas Derby.
“I honestly loved how he was training on the dirt up to the Breeders’ Cup race at Santa Anita. And since he’s been on the dirt this whole time at Oaklawn, he’s trained very well. His workouts have been very good. I’ve put him in company a couple of times and broke him off behind a horse to let him get dirt in his face and he’s handled all of that like a professional.” Trainer Tim Ice told drf.com & Breeding and Racing.
Brown Almighty has won 2 and placed twice from 5 starts with his only unplaced run coming in the Gr1 Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf last November.
Big Brown’s first Australian crop are yearlings and met with strong demand at last week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast sale, his yearlings will also sell at Inglis Melbourne Premier and this weekends Inglis Classic sale in Sydney.
