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Best of 2024: A banner year for Chad Brown

by Keith McCalmont

Just three live race days remain in 2024 to complete a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit. To celebrate the season, the NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of trainers, owners, jockeys and racing personalities to share their reflections on the memorable year.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown is no stranger to year-end accolades, but his stellar 2024 campaign saw the 46-year-old conditioner add a new mark to his ledger when Sierra Leone provided the conditioner his first win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Sierra Leone’s rallying score brought Brown’s Breeders' Cup win tally to 19 in a year that has seen the versatile conditioner earn a continent-leading 47 graded stakes-wins, including 15 Grade 1 wins with eight of those victories coming on dirt and seven on turf. His Grade 1 winners include Sierra Leone [Classic, Blue Grass], Gina Romantica [First Lady], Chancer McPatrick [Champagne, Hopeful], Carl Spackler [Turf Mile, FanDuel Fourstardave H.], Domestic Product [H. Allen Jerkens], Raging Sea [Personal Ensign], Ways and Means [Test presented by Ticketmaster], Whitebeam [Diana], Randomized [Ogden Phipps presented by Ford], Chili Flag [Just a Game], Program Trading [Turf Classic], and Beaute Cachee [Jenny Wiley].

Brown’s $30,779,095 in total purse earnings in 2024 leads the continent and he is well on his way to his ninth year-end training title on the NYRA circuit with 146 wins. His NYRA success this year includes capturing his eighth training title at the Belmont spring/summer meet [32 wins]; his seventh overall and fourth consecutive Spa training title [45 wins – one shy of his record 46 set in 2018]; and his 13th consecutive Belmont at the Big A fall title [31 wins].

Along the way there have been a couple of rare firsts for the native of Mechanicville, N.Y., including an elusive Fourstardave coup with Carl Spackler and a Breeders’ Cup Classic score with Sierra Leone.

Q. Sierra Leone is a horse with abundant talent that required hands-on training to bring him to the top level. How much of a challenge was this horse to your craft and how rewarding was it to see him succeed at the highest level?

CB: “That training job from me and my team and the result in the Breeders' Cup Classic all adds up to my most significant accomplishment since I've been training horses for about 18 years now.

“This horse came in with high expectations. He has a lot of talent and he's a very high-priced horse and he brought us to the biggest races, and along the way it was a bit frustrating - particularly in the Kentucky Derby - when he was lugging in. He didn't always cooperate, but I'm very proud of the horse and how he responded to me and my team working with him. Sure enough, by the end of the year we had the horse running in a straight line, strong and at his best. As much work as we did with the horse, the majority of the credit goes to Sierra Leone. He's the one that responded and cooperated and had the physical and mental constitution to make it through the grueling Derby trail. All the works, all the shipping, all the races, all the changes and he stayed with it, as we did as a team, together, and the horse got it done.

“I was very optimistic going into the fall that the horse had turned the corner as far as his steering. The horse didn't need to improve - he has God-gifted talent. The numbers he was running were good enough to win any one of those races if things came together the right way with pace, running straight and him liking the surface. The effort was always there. The ability and the speed figures were always there, and the horse was good enough to win any single one of his races - but that's horse racing. Conditions change and you have to adapt and step up. Thankfully, he did that when it counted the most and won the richest race on our continent.”

Q. Tell us the secret to your success at the Saratoga meet this year, winning six Grade 1s with Whitebeam [Diana], Domestic Product [H. Allen Jerkens], Raging Sea [Personal Ensign], Ways and Means [Test presented by Ticketmaster], Chancer McPatrick [Hopeful] and a first-ever Fourstardave with fan-favorite Carl Spackler.

CB: “The Saratoga meet was incredible. There's been one meet where we won more races, but we've never had a better Saratoga - winning six Grade 1s at that meet with six different horses was just incredible. It was a magical meet and one I'll never forget.

“A lot of things came together led by the all-important weather. We had very few races rained off which was very helpful. My team executed, as always, and the horses stepped up. Credit to the team, we were able to get the most out of a very diverse group of horses. We're not a one-trick pony over here. We were able to win with 2-year-olds, older horses, one-turn races, two-turn races and on both surfaces, we won Grade 1s. I feel that we really reasserted ourselves as a very unique, versatile training team. I'm mostly proud of that when we talk about highlighting accomplishments and showcasing abilities. There are very few training teams that can do that and when given the horses, we're able to get the most out of them with virtually any type of thoroughbred.”

Q. Does winning at Saratoga mean more? You’re not only facing the best of the best, but you have your family there with you every weekend.

CB: “One of the most special parts of Saratoga for me is that I have my family there. Growing up nearby adds to Saratoga being the highlight of our year. Not only is the Saratoga meet the highest quality and most competitive racing in the country, it also happens to be where I'm from and where most of my friends and family are and I get to share it with them all meet. It makes for a very memorable summer when you have success at that meet.”

Q. While racing fans may focus on the bigger wins, were there any under-the-radar success stories for you this year?

CB: “The successes were wide-ranging with all of the victories from top down that you could easily pull up, but McKulick was the conclusion of a great story. She's a horse that had much of her success in New York with her biggest win probably coming in the Belmont Oaks. She's named after my first employee, Mary McKulick. Wrapping her career up and then selling as the highest-priced horse in North America this year at $6 million [Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale] was a storybook ending.

“I also had clients that had success for the first time and that's always memorable. Sean Flanagan is a guy that's been in racing now for a few years and for him to have his first graded win at Saratoga with Grayosh [G2 Lake Placid] and then later in the meet have his first Grade 1 win with Chancer McPatrick was very emotional and personally gratifying for me to bring that success to him and his family. Another magical part of Saratoga is that when you have success there for the first time, you're really creating memories for people with the little part I play.

“Also, Grade 1 wins by horses like Ways and Means and Domestic Product - two homebreds for Klaravich Stables – was very meaningful. With Seth [Klarman] and I being so active at the auctions together, for him to have two Grade 1-winners at Saratoga that were homebreds out of a crop of three mares that we bred that year was unique and different for us. That was very gratifying.”

Q. You are always quick to thank your staff in post-race interviews – just how big is your team and how do you find the right balance across divisions?

CB: “We have just over 200 team members. What I'm very proud of is that over 50 percent of them have been with our team, in some capacity, for more than eight years. We don't have a lot of turnover. It's a team that has a wide range of talents. There are team members that do things I can't do and vice versa. It really balances itself out. I love working with my team. We share in our successes, and we take responsibility for the failures and learn together.”

Q. You’ve picked up wins in so many of North America’s top races – what’s next on your radar? The Kentucky Derby seems a logical goal but are you interested in testing your talents overseas?

CB: “We're considering running Sierra Leone in the Saudi Cup or Dubai World Cup. I just got the horse back in a little less than two weeks ago. We gave him a little paddock time in Kentucky which he really enjoyed and made the most of. I don't know if I have enough time to make the Saudi race, but I'm going to try.”

Q. While Chancer McPatrick is an obvious one to watch, who are some of the other young horses you expect to generate headlines in 2025?

CB: “Senza Parole was breathtaking in her debut. She had shown signs of very rare talent in the morning and in the afternoon backed that up. Honestly, the best training and the best debut of a 2-year-old dirt filly I've ever had - that says a lot because Ways and Means was just a year before that. This filly is super special. Unfortunately, she missed the Frizette and the Breeders' Cup with a chip that needed to be taken out. She's ready to come back very soon. If she stays sound, she could make headlines.

“I have several returning horses. Ways and Means will be back. Sierra Leone, Randomized, Program Trading will be top horses. Raging Sea had a nice year. Pretty Ana is coming back. We’ll have a lot of new faces and inevitably some 2-year-olds that haven't run yet will pop up.”

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.