Trainer Chad Brown takes aim at Pegasus World Cup

There was no late-night party Thursday and no chance to sleep in for Chad Brown on Friday.

The day after he won his second consecutive Eclipse Award as the nation's top trainer, Brown was up before the sun, arriving at his barn at Gulfstream Park by 5 a.m.

"I was very honored and humbled to win it," Brown said by cellphone Friday. "We had a bunch of horses to work Friday and we have clients in town. We had a lot of work, and that's what we do. Don't get me wrong, we really enjoyed winning (the Eclipse), but at the same time, we are always focused on the task at hand."

The immediate chore is a big one. Brown, who is from Mechanicville, will be part of the $16 million Pegasus World Cup, the richest horse race in the world. It will be run Saturday at Gulfstream at 11/8 miles. The lopsided favorite in the field of 12 is 4-5 Gun Runner, who was awarded the sport's Horse of the Year the same night Brown won his prize.

Brown will run Stellar Wind, the first female horse to ever be entered in the Pegasus, although this is only the second running of the race. Stellar Wind, who was in the care of California trainer John Sadler for the first 16 starts of her career, was last seen finishing an uninspired eighth, and last, in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar in November. Before that, she won three starts in California, all Grade I races.

After the Breeders' Cup, Stellar Wind was sold at the Keeneland November sale and the new owners, the Coolmore team of Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier, moved her to Brown's barn.

After paying $6 million for the now 6-year-old mare, the new owners decided to postpone Stellar Wind's retirement and change trainers. Stellar Wind is 30-1 on the Pegasus morning line.

"I like flying in under the radar," Brown said. "She is a nice horse. I expect her to run well, but what a tough race this is. But it should be, with a purse of $16 million."

Besides Gun Runner, horses Brown will have to beat include Travers winner West Coast, winner of the Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old male; Collected, runner-up to Gun Runner in the Breeders' Cup Classic; and Sharp Azteca, second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and winner of the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in December.

"This is a tall order," Brown said about Stellar Wind. "But I am happy with the way she is training. If this was a race with just females, I would feel extremely confident."

Brown said that Good Magic, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and also won an Eclipse on Thursday, will start his campaign toward the Kentucky Derby on March 3 in the Grade II, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

The colt, whose first career win was the Breeders' Cup race, will have his second work since coming back to Brown's barn on Sunday in Florida.

twilkin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5415 • @tjwilkin