In a marvelous “triple play” executed by trainer Chad Brown, he won all three Grade I races held last Saturday at Arlington Park.
In order, Brown won the Grade I Beverly D. with Sistercharlie, Grade I Secretariat Stakes with Valid Point and Grade I Arlington Million with Bricks and Mortar. No other trainer has ever swept these three Grade I races in the same day.
Brown then capped his extraordinary afternoon by also winning the finale on the 12-race card, the Grade III Pucker Up Stakes, with Cafe Americano. Brown thus swept all four graded stakes races run at Arlington last Saturday, yet another significant achievement by the person voted an Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The “all Chad Brown” late pick four at Arlington paid $27.30 for a 50-cent wager.
Sistercharlie made history by becoming the first two-time winner of the Beverly D. She also took last year’s renewal en route to being voted a 2018 Eclipse Award as champion female grass horse.
Additionally, this was Brown’s fifth straight Beverly D. victory and record sixth overall. His first Beverly D. win came in 2011 with Stacelita, followed by Watsdachances in 2015, Sea Calisi in 2016, Dacita in 2017 and Sistercharlie in 2018 and 2019.
Sixth early in last Saturday’s Beverly D., Sistercharlie stormed home to win going away by an emphatic three lengths as the 2-5 favorite in the field of seven. She completed 1 3/16 miles on the grass in 1:52.43. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez rode the 5-year-old Irish-bred Myboycharlie mare.
Sistercharlie was credited with a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. That matched her career-best Beyer.
Next, Valid Point remained undefeated in three career starts by taking the one-mile Secretariat at 5-2 while making his stakes debut. The Kentucky-bred Scat Daddy colt trailed early in the field of nine 3-year-olds, then unleashed a strong closing kick under Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano to win by one length in 1:35.50.
Valid Point recorded a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. That tied his career-best Beyer.
And then Bricks and Mortar, an equine win machine on the grass, took care of business in the 1 1/4-mile Arlington Million (which in 1981 became the world’s first $1 million Thoroughbred race). Sixth early in the field of nine, Bricks and Mortar charged home under Irad Ortiz Jr. to prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:59.44 as the 1-2 favorite. It was Bricks and Mortar’s sixth consecutive win. He now has finished first in all five starts this year, including a trio of races at the Grade I level.
This was Brown’s third straight Arlington Million victory and record fourth overall. Brown’s first Arlington Million win came in 2013 with Real Solution, followed by Beach Patrol in 2017, Robert Bruce in 2018 and Bricks and Mortar in 2019.
Bricks and Mortar was assigned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure for his Arlington Million performance.
Below are the Beyer Speed Figures recorded by Arlington Million winners going back to 1990:
2019 Bricks and Mortar (103)
2018 Robert Bruce (104)
2017 Beach Patrol (101)
2016 Mondaliste (100)
2015 The Pizza Man (105)
2014 Hardest Core (103)
2013 Real Solution* (99)
2012 Little Mike (102)
2011 Cape Blanco (102)
2010 Debussy (101)
2009 Gio Ponti (106)
2008 Spirit One (103)
2007 Jambalaya (103)
2006 The Tin Man (105)
2005 Powerscourt (110)
2004 Kicken Kris** (109)
2003 Sulamani*** (107)
2002 Beat Hollow (107)
2001 Silvano (118)
2000 Chester House (110)
1999 not run
1998 not run
1997 Marlin (107)
1996 Mecke (111)
1995 Awad (114)
1994 Paradise Creek (111)
1993 Star of Cozzene (115)
1992 Dear Doctor (108)
1991 Tight Spot (108)
1990 Golden Pheasant (113)
*The Apache finished first but was disqualified and placed second
**Powerscourt finished first but was disqualified and placed fourth
***Storming Home finished first but was disqualified and placed fourth
THIS WEEK’S NTRA POLL
Bricks and Mortar retains the top spot in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll this week following his Arlington Million triumph. He has ranked No. 1 each week since April 8.
Here is the Top 10 in the NTRA poll for this week:
Rank Points Horse (First-Place Votes)
- 396 Bricks and Mortar (36)
- 348 McKinzie (4)
- 283 Midnight Bisou
- 271 Sistercharlie
- 168 Mitole
- 154 World of Trouble
- 112 Imperial Hint
- 89 Maximum Security
- 65 Seeking the Soul
- 64 Elate
BIG WEEKEND FOR GLATT & TWIRLING CANDY
Trainer Mark Glatt pulled off quite a graded stakes double last weekend at two different tracks on the West Coast.
Glatt was at Del Mar last Saturday to send out Collusion Illusion to win the Grade II Best Pal Stakes. The 2-year-old colt rallied from fifth to win by 1 1/4 lengths.
Collusion Illusion now is two for two after winning a July 21 maiden contest at Del Mar. He races for the partnership of Dan Agnew, Rodney Orr, Gerry Schneider and John Xitco.
The following day, Glatt was at Emerald Downs to saddle Law Abidin Citizen for the 84th running of the $200,000 Longacres Mile, a Grade III event and the richest race in the Pacific Northwest.
This year’s Longacres Mile was a thriller. It came down to a three-way photo finish for the win between 6-1 Law Abidin Citizen, 3-5 favorite Anyportinastorm and 26-1 Restrainedvengence.
Law Abidin Citizen officially prevailed by a head (though it sure looked more like a nose to me when I saw the photo). Anyportinastorm ran way too good to lose, especially considering he carried top weight of 124 pounds, five more than the winner. But Anyportinastorm had to settle for second in the field of 11 while finishing a neck in front of Restrainedvengence in third. There was a gap of 6 1/2 lengths back to Sold Wager in fourth.
By the way, those in attendance at Emerald Downs or watching via the simulcast broadcast heard the track’s television commentator, Joe Withee, have to step in at the last minute and call the race from ground level while watching it on a TV monitor. Track announcer Tom Harris was unable to call it because the sound system went down just before the race. Withee did a superlative job under trying circumstances.
Law Abidin Citizen has three of the same owners — Agnew, Schneider and Xitco — as Collusion Illusion. Not only that, both Law Abidin Citizen and Collusion Illusion are both Kentucky-bred sons of Twirling Candy.
Abel Cedillo rode Law Abidin Citizen, who now has two graded stakes wins to his credit. The 5-year-old gelding was victorious in the Grade III San Simeon Stakes down the hill on the grass at Santa Anita last March 31. The Longacres Mile was his sixth win from 26 lifetime starts.
Law Abdin Citzen’s final time last Sunday was a commendable 1:34.08. He was credited with a 96 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Longacres Mile was run at Longacres from 1935-1992, then at Yakima Meadows from 1993-95. It has been run at Emerald Downs from 1996 to this year. Below are the Beyer Speed Figures recorded by Longacres Mile winners going back to 1992:
2019 Law Abidin Citizen (96)
2018 Barkley (94)
2017 Gold Rush Dancer (97)
2016 Point Piper (103)
2015 Stryker Phd (99)
2014 Stryker Phd (97)
2013 Herbie D (100)
2012 Taylor Said (98)
2011 Awesome Gem (96)
2010 Noosa Beach (99)
2009 Assessment (94)
2008 Wasserman (90)
2007 The Great Face (91)
2006 Flamethrowintexan (101)
2005 No Giveaway (93)
2004 Adreamisborn (99)
2003 Sky Jack (105)
2002 Sabertooth (96)
2001 Irisheyesareflying (100)
2000 Edneator (104)
1999 Budroyale (106)
1998 Wild Wonder (111)
1997 Kid Katabatic (105)
1996 Isitingood (105)
1995 L.J. Express (94)
1994 Want a Winner (87)
1993 Adventuresome Love (93)
1992 Bolulight (106)
AN EXTRA SPECIAL VICTORY FOR THE TRAINER
Winning a Longacres Mile was extra special for the 46-year-old Glatt. That’s mainly because he grew up not too many furlongs from Emerald Downs.
“Glatt grew up on a five-acre farm in Auburn, the son of Ron Glatt, who worked [as a trainer] at Longacres in Renton before it closed in 1992,” The Seattle Times’ Scott Hansen wrote in his recap of last Sunday’s Longacres Mile. “Father and son were together for the big win.”
Mark Glatt has been based in Southern California for a couple of decades. But because of his Northwest roots, he appreciates the magnitude of winning the Longacres Mile, a race steeped in history and the most coveted prize in that region of the country.
“I’ve been watching this race since I was a kid,” Glatt said, adding that it was “cool” to win it.
Ron Glatt is a native of Spokane, Wash. When he was a youngster, he would ride his bike five miles from his home to Playfair Race Course. He would climb over the fence to get into the stable area.
“A lot of times they would throw me out,” Ron Glatt told me when I interviewed him at Playfair back in 1977 for a Daily Racing Form column. “But I’d just climb right back over the fence.”
In the seventh and eighth grades, Glatt got a job walking hots at Playfair for Glen Williams, who became one of the most successful trainers in that part of the nation. In 1975, Williams took over the racing secretary duties at Longacres, a position he held until his retirement in 1989.
By the time Ron Glatt was attending Rogers High School, while his classmates were going to football games, dances and other school-related activities, he spent much of his time reading the Daily Racing Form and continuing to hang out at Playfair as much as he could.
But then Glatt decided it would be best if he pursued something other than a job in racing.
“I had a wife, family, bills and responsibilities,” he said. “I went to college for a while. I did industrial work for a time. I even parked cars at Playfair. But I didn’t like school and I just didn’t like to punch the clock.”
In 1973, Glatt felt he needed to give training horses a try.
“I came home one day and told my wife that I had decided I was going back to the track,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be a trainer. I wanted to dedicate myself to being the best one possible.”
If it had not been for the success that year of a horse called Force Play, Ron Glatt might well have ended up doing something other than be a trainer.
Glatt scrimped and saved his money until he had enough to claim a horse. He claimed Force Play for $1,600 at Longacres on June 23, 1973.
“When I claimed Force Play,” Glatt told me, “I had only $100 in the bank other than the money it took to claim him. You might say the pressure was on. I mean, if something would have happened to that horse…well, I hate to think about that.”
Glatt not only trained Force Play, he was the sole owner. Force Play was shipped from Longacres to Playfair. In Force Play’s first start for Glatt, he finished sixth in a $2,000 claiming race. But in his very next start, Force Play won a $1,600 claiming race by a nose.
Force Play then won three more races during that 1973 Playfair meet.
Thanks to Force Play, Glatt continued training for years. He won the training title at the 1977 Playfair meet before becoming a longtime successful conditioner at Longacres before it ceased racing.
More recently in 2017, while son Mark’s training career was reaching new heights, Ron Glatt played a role in the success of one of the nation’s top 2-year-olds. Early in 2017, Glatt looked after Bolt d’Oro for trainer Mick Ruis during the colt’s stay at the San Luis Rey Downs training center in Southern California. Bolt d’Oro that year won the Grade I Del Mar Futurity and Santa Anita’s Grade I FrontRunner Stakes before finishing third as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar.
A 1970 PREDICATION THAT WAS BOLD AT THE TIME
Back in 1970, when Ron Glatt was working as a groom at Longacres, he made a prediction to a whole bunch of people. He predicted that by the time the 1970 Longacres meet was over, Turbulator would be considered the best horse there.
“An awful lot of people laughed when I told them that,” he said.
It was not surprising that many at Longacres scoffed at Glatt when he made his Turbulator prediction. Racing fans and trainers in the Seattle area tended to look down on horses who raced in Washington on the other side of the Cascade Mountains at Playfair and Yakima Meadows.
Glatt was confident in his prediction because of what he had seen Turbulator do at Playfair in 1969. Turbulator won seven straight races in nine weeks at that meet. His seven victories came at distances ranging from six furlongs to two miles.
Also, just prior to the start of the 1970 Longacres meet, Turbulator won the Yakima Mile at Yakima Meadows in impressive fashion. Even though Turbulator leisurely strolled home when he won the Yakima Mile by nearly four lengths, he set a track record that would stand until Slew of Damascus broke it 23 years later. Yes, that’s the same Slew of Damascus who then won the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park in 1994.
It turned out that Glatt’s 1970 Turbulator prediction was spot on. Turbulator won five stakes races at Longacres that season, highlighted by his victory in the Governor’s Handicap when he broke the world record for 6 1/2 furlongs by two-fifths of a second. Turbulator also won the Independence Day Handicap, Joshua Green Cup, Seattle Handicap and Washington Championship. In the Washington Championship, which he won by four lengths, Turbulator broke the track record for 1 1/16 miles despite carrying 128 pounds and despite being under restraint toward the end of the race.
As mentioned earlier, prior to the start of the 1970 Longacres meeting, Ron Glatt told lots of people that Turbulator would be considered the best horse there that year by the end of the meet.
Turbulator was voted Longacres’ 1970 Horse of the Meeting.
