Brethren remains unbeaten with
sharp win in Sam F. Davis
WinStar Farm’s homebred BRETHREN (Distorted Humor) remained unbeaten and
Now three-for-three in his career, Brethren broke a step slowly from post 10
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Brethren carried himself to the lead on the final bend, reaching the
six-furlong mark with a one-length advantage in 1:13, and the race was clearly
over at that point. Dominguez looked around for challengers in midstretch, but
there were none to be found. Brethren continued to widen his advantage, passing
the mile mark in 1:38 1/5, and was taken in hand for the final sixteenth of a
mile.
“He won it like a good horse should,” Dominguez said. “We set up and relaxed
just off the lead in the first turn and I was able to wait down the backstretch.
I asked him in the turn and he came away very nicely. I took a look on both
sides in mid-stretch and there was nothing coming so I was able to wrap up on
him going to the wire and out. The distance was no problem for him at all.”
Brethren was making his first start at two turns Saturday.
“I was very pleased,” WinStar CEO Elliot Walden said. “The thing I was most
pleased about was that he didn’t break well. He broke out, which typically
happens on the outside post with a very young horse; and yet, he gathered
himself and got into the race very quickly and settled down and got into a
really nice rhythm. I’m hopeful (that he’ll have no trouble going further.) I
mean, he’s got the pedigree for it. Super Saver did it, and we hope he does,
too.”
Favored at 4-5 over his nine rivals, Brethren paid $3.80, $3.20 and $2.80 for
his popular victory. Too Experience (Drewman) rallied from last for runner-up
honors at 31-1, and it was another length back to the 30-1 Watch Me Go (West
Acre) in third. Beamer (Vindication), Monzon (Thunder Gulch), Litigate (Closing
Argument), Ribo Bobo, 3-1 second choice Washington’s Rules (Roman Ruler),
Adulare (Flatter) and Reprized Halo (Halo’s Image) completed the order of
finish.
Brethren picked up $120,000 in graded earnings, nearly tripling his career
bankroll to $187,369. The bay opened his racing career at Belmont Park last
October, winning a six-furlong maiden special weight event by a half-length, and
concluded his juvenile season with a 1 3/4-length triumph over allowance rivals
going a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs.
“We’ll just see how he goes and how he comes out of this,” Walden said when
asked about future plans. “This is the race that we targeted after he broke his
maiden. We knew that we were going to run him in the allowance race at
Churchill, and we wanted to get some graded stakes earnings and we felt like
this was the place to do it. We’ve had good luck here in the past, and hopefully
it’ll work for us this year.”
The Kentucky-bred is out of the winning A.P. Indy mare Supercharger, who is
also the dam of the two-year-old filly Lisa T. (Awesome Again) and the yearling
colt Superfection (Medaglia d’Oro). The 16-year-old mare is a full sister to
Grade 2 scorers Daydreaming and Girolamo as well as a Grade 3 hero and Grade
1-placed Accelerator. She is also a full sister to the unraced She’s a Winner,
herself the dam of 2006 Haskell Invitational (G1) winner Bluegrass Cat (Storm
Cat), who ran second in that year’s Kentucky Derby and Belmont S. (G1), and
Grade 2 victor Lord of the Game (Saint Ballado).
Brethren’s second dam is Grade 3 winner Get Lucky (Mr. Prospector), a full
sister to 1989 champion two-year-old colt and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) victor
Rhythm as well as successful stakes-placed sire Not for Love. The trio’s
half-sister Oscillate (Seattle Slew) is the dam of another well-known sire,
Group 2-placed listed winner Mutakddim (Seeking the Gold), and Grade 1 runner-up
Smooth Charmer (Easy Goer).
Farther back, Brethren counts as his fourth dam 1971 champion two-year-old
filly Numbered Account (Buckpasser), who would go on in the breeding shed to
produce his third dam, Grade 1 queen Dance Number (Northern Dancer), and
multiple Grade 1-winning sire Private Account. Others of note in this line
include Irish champion and top sire Woodman (Mr. Prospector) as well as Group 1
winner Assatis (Topsider).