NYRA/Joe Labozzetta
By Sarah Mace
Chad Brown and Javier Castellano put their heads together to plot a winning strategy for Peter M. Brant’s Fifty Five (Get Stormy) in the $200,000 Ticonderoga on Empire Showcase Day, and the results spoke for themselves.
Reverting to the “one-run” style that had served her well in the past, sophomore Fifty Five rewarded those who backed her to narrow 5-2 favoritism with a solid victory over her elders in the 1 1/16-mle contest over Belmont Park’s inner turf
The Ticonderoga represented some class relief for the bay filly, who had been knocking heads with graded rivals in her last three starts. A graded winner herself earlier in the year, taking the Florida Oaks, she finished second to the redoubtable New Money Honey in the Grade 3 Wonder Again, third in the Grade 3 Lake George and, last out, was unplaced in Belmont’s Grade 2 Sands Point.
Settling well off the pace, Fifty Five shared the tail of the field with Flipcup for three-quarters of a mile as Barrel of Dreams carved out early fractions of 25.17, 49.42 and 1:12.66.
In the clear going into the far turn, Fifty Five still had lots of work to do and six lengths to make up. Switching to the outside and put under a drive by jockey Javier Castellano, Fifty Five roared home, with Flipcup in tow.
Overtaking her rivals in midstretch, Fifty Five dug in for the final stages to win by one length. Flipcup kicked home well to get a head in front Fifty Five’s uncoupled stablemate Ancient Secret in second and third. Completing the order of finish were Tizzelle, Barrel of Dreams, Broken Border, Feeling Bossy and Frosty Margarita. After a mile in 1:35.72, the final time for 1 1/16 miles over the firm inner turf course was 1:41.65. [VIDEO REPLAY]
Javier Castellano, who had the call aboard Fifty Five for the first time, felt that good communication with Brown was crucial to the victory.
“Chad talked to me about her a little bit because I haven’t had the opportunity to ride or work the horse in the morning. To me, she’s kind of new, so it was important for me to have some feedback. That’s the thing that’s most important with Chad. Because we have a good relationship, we can talk about the horses. He can give me tips and we can put it together and have a race like that.”
NYRA/Adam Coglianese
Continued Castellano, “I handicapped the race and watched her other races and I think she’s one of those kinds of horses where you have one run and that’s what I did. I’m glad Chad [Brown] gave me the option of making my own adjustments in the race. I broke well out of the gate with the field, I took my time, saved all the ground, and made one run. She responded like an explosion. That’s what I was looking for today and she did it. Great performance today.”
Brown commented, “It really set up well for her. We were trying to revert back to tactics that worked in the past – one run. The past couple of starts with her, we tried to get too much early position, and she’s better making that one run. The filly really showed up today.”
Brown said he would consult owner Peter Brant, but is inclined at this point to give Fifty Five a rest over the winter and bring her back fresh for a 4-year-old campaign.
Bred by Empire Equines and foaled at Berkshire Stud in Pine Plains, Fifty Five is one of two winners out of Empire’s homebred mare Soave, who died earlier this year. Soave was by Brahms out of New York-bred Cozzene mare Cozzekiki.
Fifty Five RNA’d for $24,000 at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sales only to emerge as Get Stormy’s first stakes winner when she won the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs. Brant purchased the filly privately from breeder Empire Equines’ John Crowe after the Florida Oaks coup. She now sports a record of four wins, a second and two thirds from five starts and has earned $359,600.
