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Trainer Chad Brown was in excellent spirits on the morning of Aug. 18, the day after enjoying the biggest day of his training career.
At 5:15 p.m. Saturday, Brown was at Saratoga Race Course as his Big Blue Kitten rallied from 12th and last to win the $600,000 Sword Dancer Invitational (gr. IT), a length ahead of Twilight Eclipse. Less than two hours later, sitting in front of the TV in his barn office, Brown and his staff watched Real Solution duel with The Apache in the stretch and then get put up to first by disqualification to win the Arlington Million (gr. IT).
Two grade I wins in the same day was a first for Brown, and they came in two of the most important grass races in the country. Both were with horses bred and owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who also captured the Secretariat Stakes (gr. IT) at Arlington on the day with 3-year-old Admiral Kitten.
"I'll tell you, it was incredible," Brown said. "Like I said, so much planning goes into these races. They're on a calendar, and you work backwards a long way out, often, and with horses, the best-laid plans rarely work out. But this time, we pointed to those two races and hit them both. It's a tremendous feeling."
Brown said he had been fielding congratulations throughout the night and into the morning, in person and via text message. Some people, however, didn't realize he had won the Million. The Apache, who reached the wire a head in front, was demoted by the Arlington stewards for drifting out and bumping Real Solution repeatedly.
"I had a couple (texts) late, to be honest with you, that said, 'Great win in the Sword Dancer. I'm sorry; your horse ran great in the Million. Good job,'" Brown said. "I had an owner today tell me, came up to me just now, one of my clients, and he said, 'Hey, great win yesterday, but in the Million, tough beat.' Some people just walked away."
