Martin Schwartz’s Stacelita makes her first start for new
trainer Chad Brown after running for Jean-Claude Rouget in the United Nations
at Monmouth Park.
“She’s gotten a little bit better each week we’ve had her,”
Brown said from Saratoga
on Wednesday. “Her energy level has been great and we are really pleased
with the way she has been training.”
Stacelita worked Monday morning at Saratoga
and recorded the same time, 48.23 seconds over the firm Oklahoma
turf course, as Desert Sage, a stakes-placed stablemate. Desert Sage’s
work was recorded as a breeze while Stacelita’s was rated as handily; Brown
suggested there was no reason to read into the tag.
“I don’t know why they were different,” Brown said, “they
pretty much went the same.”
Brown will also start Gary and Mary West’s Casino Host in the
Grade I Secretariat Stakes after a third-place finish at 20-1 in the Grade II
Virginia Derby.
A son of Dynaformer, Brown agreed that the extra ground and
firmer going were attributable to his solid run at Colonial Downs after a dull
fifth in the one-mile Hill Prince at Belmont
over a yielding course.