Brown sends out trio in Listed Wild Applause

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will be represented by Play With Fire, Lavender Disaster and Midway Memories in Thursday’s Listed $150,000 Wild Applause, a one-mile inner turf test for sophomore fillies, during the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. 

The Wild Applause is slated as Race 8 on Thursday’s 11-race card on Opening Day of the July 4th Racing Festival, which also includes the Grade 3 Victory Ride in Race 3. Statistics for the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will include the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. 

Brown has won a record five editions of the Wild Applause, including the past three runnings with Eminent Victor, Liguria and Oversubscribed [2022-24], in addition to previous scores from Ancient Secret [2016] and Blowout [2019].

LSU Stables recently purchased Play With Fire [post 6, Flavien Prat] and she makes her first start for new connections after five outings for previous trainer Brendan Walsh and owner Fergus Galvin. The Oscar Performance bay was a last-out closing one-length winner of the one-mile Listed Hilltop on May 16 at Pimlico Race Course, matching her career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure in victory. 

“We just purchased her about one month ago and we are looking forward to big things from her,” said Randy Sarf, of LSU Stables. “Chad Brown has been training her and she is going to be a good one.” 

Play With Fire made her first three efforts at Fair Grounds, graduating at about 1 1/16 miles on debut, which earned an 83 Beyer in November, and two starts later finishing third over that same course in the Allen Black Cat LaCombe Memorial in March. She next was fourth in a 1 1/16-mile April allowance at Keeneland ahead of the Hilltop. 

LSU Stables has enjoyed immense success from private purchases, including multiple Grade 1-winner Far Bridge and multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Bank Frenzy. Sarf believes Play With Fire could add her name to the list. 

“She is talented and she knows how to win,” said Sarf. “That’s why we purchased her. You bet your money on them when you buy them, and you see what they can turn into. Private purchases are our way to go, you get to look the horse up and down, head to toe, and you learn.” 

Bred in Minnesota by Lothenbach Stables, Play With Fire is out of the Street Sense mare Streaming Fire, a half-sister to Grade 3-winner City Attraction. 

Peter Brant’s Kentucky homebred Lavender Disaster [post 7, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] makes her second start of the year after a successful seasonal debut in a one-mile allowance versus elders on May 25 at Belmont at the Big A. The Into Mischief dark bay bobbled at the start, stalked in 4th-of-6, and closed under returning rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. to get up in the final 70 yards. 

Lavender Disaster was making her first start since a troubled outing in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo in October at Belmont at the Big A, where she was carried out extremely wide by a stablemate at the top of the lane and lost all chance. In her lone other effort, she graduated going 1 1/16-miles on debut there by three-quarter-lengths over next-out winner Competitive Market. 

Lavender Disaster is out of the graded stakes-winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Cafe Americano, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Angelou. Her second dam is Roxy Gap, the 2012 Sovereign Award Champion Older Mare and Female Sprinter in Canada. 

First Row Partners and Estate of Brereton C. Jones’ Midway Memories [post 4, Manny Franco] is cross-entered in Sunday’s Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park as she makes her third career start following a second-out graduation in April at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

The Cairo Prince gray closed to miss by a nose in her one-mile March debut at Tampa Bay Downs. The $300,000 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is a half-sister to Panamanian Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Sol Principe Gris and the Brown-trained Grade 1-winner Zandon, who was notably third in the 2022 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Travers, and second in the 2023 Met Mile and Whitney. 
 
Hall of Fame-trainer Mark Casse will provide strong opposition with Gary Barber, Blue Crevalle Racing and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Classic Q [post 5, Jose Ortiz]. 

The gray daughter of the Casse-trained 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Classic Empire enters from a pacesetting seventh in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Regret on May 31 at Churchill Downs. She was making her longest start to date and finished out of the superfecta for the first time in her six-race career. 

“Last time in the Regret, she got a little keen going one mile and an eighth,” said Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. “Jose Ortiz, who adores this filly, said it was just too far for her. So let’s cut her back to one mile, and we are excited to do that in the Wild Applause.”

Classic Q earned favoritism for the Regret off a dominant closing performance when defeating allowance elders by 4 3/4 lengths going one mile on April 30 there. She previously was a close fourth twice in March stakes at Gulfstream Park, including the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride and the Listed Sanibel Island. 

“She usually breaks a little slow and she broke really well her last start and found herself alone on the lead and she just kind of ran off. It just didn't work,” said Casse. “She's much better when you can cover her up. I think the cutback to a mile will help because there will be a little more pace up front. The mile should be right in her wheelhouse.”

Among Classic Q’s 6-2-0-0 record is a second-out graduation when traveling forwardly going one mile in January at Gulfstream. She was a $40,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the winning Scat Daddy mare Lovely Em.

Calumet Farm’s Kentucky homebred Fixin to Bee [post 1, John Velazquez] is cross-entered in Saturday’s Tepin at Churchill Downs. Trainer Rusty Arnold, who also has Love You Anyway entered in that race, said Fixin to Bee is leaning towards the Wild Applause.

The Mshawish bay was a last out closing fifth in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill after being squeezed hard at the start under Hall of Famer John Velazquez. She entered that spot from a head score in a 1 3/16-mile allowance on April 19 at Keeneland– earning a career-best 74 Beyer in both efforts.  

“Johnny [Velazquez] got killed out of the gate and it got us put back to last. She made a pretty big run and then hung a little bit, but she’s trained very well and I’m excited to run her,” Arnold said. “She’s starting to be very seasoned and we’ve run her in a lot of races. She hasn’t won a stake or even hit the board in one, but I think it’s going to change one of these days because she tries every time you take her over there.” 

Arnold added that cutting Fixin to Bee back to one-mile was to keep her separated from stablemate Totally Justified in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on Saturday at the Spa. 

Rounding out the field is a pair for trainer Cherie DeVaux of stakes-placed Love and Poetry [post 2, Joel Rosario] and maiden winner Especially [post 3, Javier Castellano]. Ruth is entered for the main-track only.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the July 4th Racing Festival. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.