Chad Brown saddles strong pair in Fitz Right, Tax Holiday in G2 Wonder Again pres. by Shift4

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out Fitz Right and Tax Holiday as he looks to secure a record-extending seventh score in Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again presented by Shift4, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf route for sophomore fillies during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Wonder Again is slated as Race 9 on Friday’s 14-race program, which includes the Grade 1, $500,000 DraftKings Acorn [Race 10], Grade 1, $750,000 New York [Race 11], the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 12], and the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses presented by Boldyn Networks [Race 4]. First post is 11:45 a.m. Eastern with admission gates open to the public at 10 a.m.

Fitz Right and Tax Holiday will look to add to Brown’s past Wonder Again winners which include Lady Eli [2015], New Money Honey [2017], Cambier Parc [2019], Consumer Spending [2022], Prerequisite [2023] and Segesta [2024].

Michael Dubb, William Lawrence, The Elkstone Group and Michael Kisber’s Fitz Right [post 2, Flavien Prat] took a big step forward last out, stalking and pouncing to a 3 1/2-length score in the Listed Memories of Silver on April 26 over yielding ground at Aqueduct Racetrack.

There, the Charlatan chestnut settled in fifth-of-6 and just three lengths off the pace of Grade 3-placed Imperatrice before rallying four-wide at the top of the lane and taking command at the sixteenth pole en route to a geared-down score in a final time of 1:40.50. The winning effort registered a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure and improved her record to 2-for-2 in 2026.

“She looks to keep moving forward. I like the way she’s going,” Brown said.

The $200,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase closed out her juvenile campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Listed Chelsey Flower in November at the Big A, but returned victorious in January over good ground at Tampa Bay Downs to romp by 5 1/2-lengths in an optional-claiming route.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Fitz Right is out of the Grade 3-winning Henny Hughes mare I’m a Looker, making her a half-sister to stakes-placed Eliminate. 

Klaravich Stables’ British-bred Tax Holiday [post 4, Dylan Davis] will make her stakes debut from a game neck graduation at second asking traveling one-mile over firm footing on April 16 at the Big A. There, she saved ground in third position under Dylan Davis before making a three-wide run into the lane to put away pacesetting Angels Envy, who herded Tax Holiday out a path. Tax Holiday stayed on strong to the wire and was able to fend off stablemate Academia for the narrow win in a final time of 1:39.69 and earn a 72 Beyer.

Tax Holiday, a $242,044 purchase from the 2024 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, failed to fire in her February debut at Tampa Bay Downs but has trained forwardly over the Oklahoma dirt training track out of her maiden score.

“She’s been slow to come around. She’s a beautiful horse and I think her best days are ahead of her,” Brown said. “She’s moving forward, but the way she’s been training the last couple of weeks she deserves to step right up.”

Tax Holiday is out of the Street Cry mare Secret Soul, a half-sister to dual Group 1-winning millionaires Mogul and Japan as well as Group 2-winner and multiple Group 1-placed Secret Gesture. Tax Holiday’s second dam, Shastye, is a half-sister to 1998 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winner Sagamix.

Emcee Stable’s Lion Lake [post 8, John Velazquez] has won two of her last four outings, including a pair of third-place misses by a neck in graded company for trainer Brendan Walsh.

The Irish-bred Dark Angel grey graduated in in January at Gulfstream Park and followed with a head score one month later in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at the Hallandale Beach oval. 

Lion Lake shipped to Kentucky for her most recent two efforts, closing to finish a neck third in the one-mile Grade 2 Appalachian in April at Keeneland before missing by the same margin last out when completing the trifecta in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Edgewood on Kentucky Oaks Day May 1 at Churchill Downs.

The $162,366 purchase from Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, out of the Cape Cross mare Urjuwaan, is a full-sister to dual Group 1-winner Alfareeq.

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Quiet Street [post 1, Junior Alvarado] enters from a third-place effort in the Listed Memories of Silver for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The Street Boss chestnut won her first two career starts, taking a 5 1/2-furlong maiden sprint in August at Spa ahead of a rallying one-length score in the 6 1/2-furlong Untapable in September at Kentucky Downs. She completed her juvenile campaign with a third-place try in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Miss Grillo in October at Belmont at the Big A.

Quiet Street opened her current campaign with a troubled off-the-board finish in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Limestone in April at Keeneland ahead of a prominent run when stretched out in the Memories of Silver.

Out of the winning Tapit mare Serene, Quiet Street’s second dam – the dual Grade 1-placed Fascinating – is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner and sire Bodemeister.

Repole Stable’s Time to Dream [post 5, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] is a perfect 2-for-2 at the Spa for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

The Not This Time dark bay graduated in July traveling one-mile and followed with a rallying five-length romp in the 1 1/16-mile Listed P.G. Johnson one month later. The $750,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase closed from ninth and 6 1/4-lengths off the pace to finish a one-length third in the Grade 2 Jessamine in October at Keeneland before an off-the-board try in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.

Time to Dream closed to finish second in her seasonal debut in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in March at Tampa Bay Downs when 1 1/4-lengths back of Dandona. She enters from an off-the-board run in the Edgewood.

Time to Dream, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner Red Carpet Ready, is out of the unraced Street Sense mare Wild Silk, who is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Joking.

Completing a talented group are Coach Mazzula [post 3, Manny Franco], a frontrunning winner last out of the Listed Hilltop for trainer Brittany Russell; stakes-placed Soloist [post 6, Jose Ortiz] for conditioner Ken McPeek; and maiden winner Call On Me [post 7, Luis Saez] for trainer Rusty Arnold. Pashmina is entered for the main-track only. 

America’s Day at the Races presents daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule. 

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