- Preakness winner Early Voting will make his next start in the Grade 2, $600,000 USD Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 30.
- Trainer Chad Brown will also run Kentucky Derby third place finisher Zandon in the Jim Dandy.
- Brown will enter undefeated Jack Christopher in the Grade 1 $1 million USD Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 23.
Early Voting is the epitome of ‘lightly raced’, but so far it’s difficult to argue with that strategy. In four career starts, the Chad Brown trained colt has three wins and a second place finish. He began his career with a win in a maiden special weight at Aqueduct last December. As a three year old, he won the Grade 3 Withers, finished second to Belmont winner Mo Donegal in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial and outlasted Epicenter in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.
Race number five for Early Voting has now been set. He’ll run in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 30. The Jim Dandy is a race for three year olds going one mile and one furlong on dirt with a $600,000 USD purse.
Early Voting with have some familiar company in the race. Brown has confirmed that he’ll also run Kentucky Derby third place finisher Zandon in the Jim Dandy. That means he’ll be sending undefeated phenom Jack Christopher to Monmouth to race in the July 23 Grade 1 $1 million USD Haskell Stakes.
The 55th running of the TVG.com Haskell Stakes is a Grade 1 race for three year olds over one mile and one eighth on dirt. Outside of horse racing circles, Jack Christopher has been somewhat ‘under the radar’ since he skipped the 2022 Triple Crown sequence. He’s got four wins in four starts, most recently in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont on June 11. The Woody Stephens win was flat out dominating–he pulled away from the field at the quarter pole and ran off to win by ten lengths. At the time, trainer Brown was as impressed as anyone:
“This horse is an exceptional talent. This is my 15th year of training and I’ve never had a dirt horse with this much pure brilliance. He reminds me a lot of Ghostzapper when I worked for Bobby Frankel. He’s a brilliant horse that can probably run any distance.”
“Everybody wants to have horses like this – horse of a lifetime – including me.”
Brown explained the strategy behind his stakes race assignments:
“Jack Christopher looked great this morning, he looks ready to go for the Haskell. I just didn’t see the benefit of putting Early Voting in a larger field against a really fast horse and what it might do to him five weeks out from the Travers.”
He’s also pleased with how Zandon has been performing of late:
“The horse has put on considerable weight. He’s better than ever and his work today was fantastic. He was nice and settled, he had a horse break off in front of him, he easily went by that horse near the wire, then he went inside another horse on the gallop-out and continued to move out on the gallop-out powerfully and well within himself. It was a very impressive work.”
Early Voting shipped up to Monmouth on Sunday morning. All three of the horses could find themselves in the marquee race of the Saratoga meet–the Grade 1 $1.25 million USD Travers Stakes on August 27.
