Fog of War’s George Briggs handles off going in NYSS Cab Calloway

By Darby O’Brien

No downpour could stop Peter Brant’s homebred George Briggs in the $150,000 Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Series Thursday at Saratoga Race Course.

Originally carded at 1 mile on the turf, the race ran at the same distance on a sloppy main track following a brief downpour shortly before the fifth race that saturated the immediate area in and around the track.

“We felt very confident,” Brant said in the winner’s circle. “We were a little upset that it came off the turf. He really looks like a turf horse. But it rains, like it always does.”

But even Brant agreed that the colt handled the slop well.

After a chaotic beginning, the son of Fog of War settled in third early, behind pacesetting Buttah and River of Time. The colt revved up under Irad Ortiz Jr. as the field headed into the turn. Five wide at the top of the stretch, the New York-bred dug in, fending off Moe Eighty Eight as he gained on Buttah. Thanks to a final late kick as they reached the sixteenth pole, George Briggs took the lead in the final strides and scored by a neck in 1:38.27.

“I was disappointed,” said winning trainer Chad Brown on the race being taken off the turf. “Because this horse was training so well off the layoff and he’s definitely better on the turf. I thought enough of him to run in open company down at Gulfstream before I had to rest him for getting sick. I thought it was just really unlucky that little cell came through but he was able to get there anyway.”

Despite the late surface change, Brown never considered scratching the colt.

“There just wasn’t a whole lot on paper here,” he said. “Obviously, the horse to beat was the one that we just got by (who) had a little dirt form. With the purse the way it is and no guarantee that there will be another turf race next time we go – maybe it could rain – we briefly discussed it, but I was always going to stay in. He trains solid on the dirt, I just know that he’s better on the turf.”

As for what’s next, Brown expects to see Brant’s homebred take a step up.

“If we could find a New York-bred race for him and develop him that way, it’d be just fine,” Brown said. “At some point, he’ll find open company. He’s good enough on turf.”

George Briggs was bred by Brant’s White Birch Farm. He is by Fog of War, a Grade 1 winner campaigned by Brant and trained by Brown before standing at Hidden Lake Farm in Stillwater from 2021 to 2024. He won two of seven starts, including the Grade 1 Summer Stakes in 2018 at Woodbine. George Briggs relocated to continue his stud career at the Jockey Club of Turkey Stud Farm prior to the 2025 season.

George Briggs is named for a New York politician from the 1800s who served in the Vermont House of Representatives and was a member of the U.S. House from 1849-53 and 1859-61. He also owned a summer home, Woodlawn, in Saratoga Springs.

The equine George Briggs is out of the unraced Irish-Muhtathir mare Bamboiselle. She’s also the dam of the 4-year-old Demarchelier filly French Bob, who is winless in two starts. Bamboiselle sold in foal to Demarchelier for $6,500 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton October digital sale. She produced a filly, named My Lady Gabrielle, by that sire in 2024.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2025/08/14/george-briggs-handles-off-going-in-nyss-cab-calloway/

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