Free Fighter, with James Graham aboard, outfought 9-10 favorite Brass Hat through a long stretch battle to produce a half-length victory in the $125,000 Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Arlington Park Sept. 7.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Old-timers Brass Hat, Silverfoot, and Rumor Has It figure to fight it out in the $125,000 Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) at 12 furlongs on Labor Day at Arlington Park Sept. 7.
Friday, September 04, 2009
A day of upsets at Saratoga was punctuated by the most shocking surprise of all in the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational (gr. IT), as the 33-1 longshot Telling took over approaching the top of the stretch and held off Better Talk Now for his first stakes win.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Jason, Tom, and, Tim Holland from twinspires preview the Sword Dancer Invitational (gr. IT) at Saratoga on August 15.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Marc Keller's Grand Couturier has only won three of the 14 stakes he has attempted in this country, but the 6-year-old horse sure knows how to pick his spots. All three of the scores have been in grade I races, including two in the prestigious Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes (gr. IT) at Saratoga.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Presious Passion scored a repeat victory in the $750,000 United Nations Stakes (gr. IT), smashing the course record in the process July 4 at Monmouth Park.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
An accomplished group of older horses that includes four grade I winners is set to go in the $750,000 United Nations Stakes (gr. IT) July 4 on the Monmouth Park turf.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Fred Bradley's resilient 8-year-old gelding Brass Hat entered the $111,800 Louisville Handicap (gr. IIIT) without a victory since September 2007 and winless in seven career starts on the grass. But with red-hot jockey Calvin Borel on his back, the gelded son of Prized returned to the winner's circle by roaring down the stretch and getting up in the final strides.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
On May 23 at Churchill Downs, Buff Bradley will saddle his remarkable gelding Brass Hat in the $100,000 Louisville Handicap (gr. IIIT), where he will take on eight rivals in the 1 1/2-mile turf event.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield dominated the closing day feature at Keeneland, as his foreign-bred charges Spice Route and Musketier ran one-two in the $200,000 Fifth Third Elkhorn Stakes (gr. IIT) April 24 on the Haggin turf course.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Two-time grade I winner Champs Elysees, who just missed in last month's Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I), will make his Keeneland debut on April 24 in the $200,000 Fifth Third Elkhorn (gr. IIT), the spring meeting's closing day feature.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Johnanna Louise Glen-Teven's Proudinsky, winner of the Muniz Memorial Handicap (gr. II) a year ago, is the 3-1 morning-line favorite in his quest to become the first back-to-back winner in the 17-year history of the event, Fair Grounds' premier race for turf horses.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Millionaire grade I winner Brass Hat returns to racing Feb. 14 in the $50,000 Dust Commander Stakes at Turfway Park, his first start in eight months.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
After a disappointing 2008 campaign in which he went winless in five starts, trainer Buff Bradley thought the end may had finally come for 7-year-old Brass Hat, a fan favorite who had claimed seven stakes victories in his sensational career.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Brass Hat has an injury that will keep him from training for the next three months, which means he could not race before 2009, if all goes well. The 7-year-old gelded son of Prized suffered a strained suspensory ligament in his left leg.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Jockey Calvin Borel took off his 10 mounts at Churchill Downs on June 14, citing pain in his knee as the cause.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
For Steve Asmussen, the perfect scenario in the June 14 Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) goes something like this: clean break, good position, powerful move, and a romp home under wraps from Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year. But whether the trainer will get that result in the 1 1/8-mile test at Churchill Downs is another question.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Churchill Downs will supplement the purse for the June 14 Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) to $1 million if at least one grade I winner starts in the race.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
On May 24, while reporters trace the every move of Triple Crown contender Big Brown, a hard-knocking 7-year-old gelding will make the 25th start of his career in the $150,000 Louisville Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Churchill Downs. And although the racing industry looks to a 3-year-old runner to attract nationwide fans, the reality is that Fred Bradley's Brass Hat is an equally intriguing horse to follow.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Phipps Stable's Dancing Forever came three-wide into the final turn, collared Drilling for Oil mid-stretch, and hit the wire in front to take the Fifth Third Elkhorn (gr. IIT) by a length to close out the Keeneland fall meet stakes program.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Fred Bradley's homebred Brass Hat will make the 24th start of his career in the $200,000 Fifth Third Elkhorn Stakes (gr. IIT) at Keeneland April 25, but he'll be up against a field of established turf contenders like morning line favorite Stream of Gold, second choice True Cause, Drilling for Oil, Dancing Forever, and Transduction Gold.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sometimes change is a good thing. Just ask trainer Todd Pletcher, who not only added blinkers to his struggling 4-year-old colt Circular Quay, but shipped him back to Fair Grounds, the site of his only win in eight previous starts. The moves paid off, as Circular Quay outfought a stubborn Grasshopper in a terrific stretch duel to take the $500,000 New Orleans Handicap (gr. II) by a half-length March 8.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
The $500,000 New Orleans Handicap (gr. II) is shaping up just like the Feb. 9 Mineshaft Handicap (gr. III) did, and that's fine as far as Neil Howard is concerned. The trainer sends 4-year-old Grasshopper to the March 8 event looking for the same form the colt showed in his Mineshaft victory - and Howard fully expects similar results.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Spring At Last had only one start under his belt after winning the Godolphin Mile (UAE-II) last March, and that was a Dec. 26 allowance race over the Santa Anita turf. But Doug O'Neill had no qualms about sending the Silver Deputy colt into the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I), and the trainer's faith was rewarded when his 4-year-old runner returned with a solid victory at Gulfstream Park Feb. 2.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Seven former Donn Handicap winners have gone on to compete in the $6 million Dubai World Cup.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Brass Hat, A.P. Arrow, Fairbanks, Spring At Last, Einstein all pack into talented field for the 50th running of the $500,000 Donn Handicap (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park Feb. 2.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
In a day and age when retiring graded stakes winners as 3-and 4-year-olds is the now the norm, the Thoroughbred racing industry is in desperate need of older superstars. Gutsy horses that fans can get attached to and follow for the better part of a decade.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The Todd Pletcher-trained A.P. Arrow survived a cavalry charge at the head of the lane and a stretch duel with Fred Bradley's Brass Hat to win the $554,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (gr. II) at Churchill Downs Nov. 23, bumping his career earnings past the $1-million mark.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Fred Bradley's homebred Brass Hat tuned up for a Nov. 23 engagement in the $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (gr. II) by working five furlongs in 1:00.60 under jockey Willie Martinez Nov. 16.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Fields are beginning to take shape for each of the five graded stakes at Churchill Downs Thanksgiving weekend, highlighted by the Nov. 23 $500,000-added Clark Handicap (gr. II).
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Brass Hat and Go Between, both coming off of stakes victories, highlight a field of nine in the $150,000 Fayette Stakes (gr. III), the final race of Keenelands fall meet Oct. 27.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Fairbanks may have been the 7-10 favorite, but Fred Bradley's 6-year-old Brass Hat put the youngster in his place when they hooked up in a fierce stretch duel in the Sept. 22 running of the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Evening Attire, Brass Hat, and Fairbanks headline Saturday's renewal of the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap, a race that has not been run since 2004.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Todd Pletcher is not expecting another Saratoga track record, but the nation's leading trainer is looking forward to another big effort from Lawyer Ron in the $500,000 Woodward Stakes (gr. I) Sept. 1 at Saratoga.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Despite his poor effort in the Whitney Handicap (gr. I), Brass Hat will make a return visit to Saratoga for the Woodward Stakes (gr. I) Sep. 1, trainer Buff Bradley said Sunday.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
It's time to step up. The June retirement of Invasor, the defending Horse of the Year and 2006 Whitney Handicap (gr. I) winner, has left a giant void at the top of the handicap division.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Fred Bradley's grade I winner Brass Hat, making his first start in more than a year, demonstrated his good health when he broke a 36-year-old Churchill Downs track record at 1 1/16 miles Sunday, defeating favored Student Council by a head on closing day of the spring meet.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Fred Bradley's Brass Hat, winner of the Donn Handicap (gr. I) in 2006, is a slight favorite over Stonecrest Farm's Perfect Drift, winner of the 2003 Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I), on Sunday's closing day of the 52-day spring meet.
Friday, July 06, 2007
With Invasor's retirement and Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I) favorite Lava Man likely to remain in California, at least for the time being, perhaps the savior of the older horse division will be the resilient Cinderella horse Brass Hat, who turned in a bullet five-furlong work in 1:00 at Churchill Downs Friday.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Fred Bradley's homebred Brass Hat, winner of the Donn Handicap (gr. I) who ran second in the Dubai World Cup (gr. I), has taken his first steps toward a possible return to racing.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
The board of directors of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has sent Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mansour, chairman of the Emirates Racing Association, an official position statement on the disqualification of Brass Hat from his second-place finish in this year's $6-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), and has asked the association to reconsider its position.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
California will soon release the results of a study that will reflect trends in connection with blood samples taken from about 6,000 racehorses for the purpose of "milkshake" --or TCO2 testing-- last year.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Fred Bradley's Brass Hat, winner of this year's Donn Handicap (gr. I) and New Orleans Handicap (gr. II), suffered an ankle injury in a Thursday workout that will sideline the 5-year-old gelding for an extended period of time and could end his career.
Friday, July 07, 2006
The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association Medication Committee will review California research that helped develop thresholds for two therapeutic medications during its meeting July 14 in Bloomington, Minn., as part of the National HBPA summer convention.
Friday, July 07, 2006
A three-member appeals panel of the Emirates Racing Authority has upheld the disqualification of Brass Hat from his second-place finish in this year's Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) and the $5,400 fine imposed on trainer Buff Bradley.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
A three-member panel of the Emirates Racing Authority on Monday heard the appeal of the connections of Brass Hat over the gelding's disqualification of his second-place finish in this year's Dubai World Cup (UAE-I).
Monday, June 26, 2006
Last at the top of the stretch, Seek Gold closed from out of the clouds to steal the $844,500 Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) from Perfect Drift at the wire at odds of 91-1 at Churchill Downs Saturday.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Buzzards Bay, authoritative winner of the Oaklawn Handicap (gr. II) in his last start more than two months ago, takes on grade I winners Brass Hat and Perfect Drift in the $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill Downs Saturday.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The second half of the Thoroughbred racing season kicks off June 17 with the first 2006 telecast of the Road to the Breeders' Cup World Championships – Powered by Dodge on ESPN from 5-7 p.m. (est).
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Fred Bradley's Brass Hat and Stonecrest Farm's Perfect Drift, the local stars that could be the favorites for Saturday's 25th running of the $750,0000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill Downs, turned in their final major pre-race preps on Tuesday with training moves at Trackside Louisville training center.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
