The grass is always greener outside of coach Chad Brown’s barn. Or, at least it seems so. The grass fields on the grass at Racecourse Saratoga Definitely a brown color. As in Chad, of course.
Brown started the Saratoga meetup with an explosive stake race on the Spa lawn.
He hopes to maintain that trend on July 31 when he secures two of the six runners in the $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes (G2T), an 1/8th test. miles on the inner turf.
The cage will be represented by gelding 5 years old L’Imperator owned by Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Robert LaPenta, and Rockempang a 6-year-old horse owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael E. Kisber and Michael Caruso.
The duo will have a tough action to follow. Their cage mates finished the job for their boss at Diana (G1T) July 16 — Brown finished first, second, third and fourth — and Lake George Stakes (G3T) July 22 — Brown exactly.
“The horses have been running really well, for the most part,” Brown said outside his stable on Oklahoma Training Road. “On all surfaces.”
Brown has two Bowling Green victories on his résumé. He won it in 2016 with Flintshire and in 2013 with Hyper (when the race was running at 1 1/4 mile).
Rockempaster, son of Holy Roman Emperor , has been in Brown’s cage since the summer of 2019. He has made 17 starts for him, all but two in graded stake races. His only classification win came in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T) at Belmont Park on October 9, 2021.
In his last four attempts, Rockempang, who will be ridden by Flavien Prat, didn’t finish better than fifth. In his most recent warm-up, he finished fifth in Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes (G1T) in Belmont on June 11. Brown finished first and second in that race with Tribhuvan and Adhamo .
“He still hasn’t been able to get back to his form since last fall,” Brown said. “But he’s training really well, and he prefers a solid pitch. If it’s Saturday for sure, I feel like finally, in his job, he’s been at his best. that I used to see in the morning.”
One question that remains about Rockempanga’s recent form is his age.
“He’s aging a little bit,” Brown said. “You wonder if he tails some people. That’s a fair question.”
L’Imperator, also of the Holy Roman Emperor, will be ridden by Manny Franco. He was last seen in Manhattan, ranking seventh.
“He didn’t have a good trip,” Brown said. “I’m not sure what he’ll do in the end. He was calloused all the way, and we never really saw him run. So we’re going to try to hit this distance, it’s new for me and him to try together.”
Also participating in Bowling Green are Jerry Crawford’s Donegal Racing and 8-year-old Joseph Bulger’s Arklow Trained by Brad Cox, 5 years old of Fitriani Hay Head of the Central Highlands trained by Graham Motion, the 8-year-old kid of Three Diamonds Farm Cross the border Coached by Mike Maker, Doug Arnold Jr. and Jonathan Wilmot, 5 years old Cibolian coached by Rodolphe Brisset.
