During his summer stay at Saratoga, there will be no need for trainer Chad Brown to travel north to the Six Flags Great Escape amusement park for a roller coaster ride.
He's already been on a wild one during this topsy-turvy Triple Crown season.
In the course of the last two months or so, the five-time Eclipse Award winner has experienced the high of having the Kentucky Derby (G1) favorite in Paladin to the low of having that 3-year-old sidelined before the Triple Crown. Then came the ups of winning the Louisiana Derby (G2) with Emerging Market and the downs when the horse lost a shoe and finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby. Another dip was when Iron Honor finished a disappointing seventh in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) and was pulled from Kentucky Derby consideration. But there was a rise to the sky when he finished second in the Preakness Stakes (G1), the second jewel in the Triple Crown.
"This Triple Crown has been a challenging one for us," Brown said. "We had a nice collection of colts who really fit. But it goes to show how difficult the Triple Crown is. So many things have to go right. And I'm not the only trainer who was in position with a great shot to win and lost the horse due to injury or bad luck. It is challenging, but we learned a lot from it and, thankfully, I have plenty of good ammo."
The tumultuous ride comes to end June 6 when Brown will send out not one, not two, but three of the nine starters in the $2 million Belmont Stakes (G1) June 6 at Saratoga Race Course.
"They all fit here," Brown said.
Of the trio of Emerging Market, Growth Equity, and Gun Runner 's half brother Ottinho, Emerging Market is the key, at least according to his 6-1 morning-line price.
Owned by Klaravich Stables, the son of Candy Ride won the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby defeating subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo. However, the Derby at Churchill Downs in his third career start was full of misadventures, which included the aforementioned losing of a shoe.
"He had a rough trip in the Derby, but he came out of it fine," Brown said about the colt bred by Stoneriggs Farm and bought for $185,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "On form, he really fits. He beat the Derby winner in the Louisiana Derby and that gives you confidence that he belongs. He won at a mile and three-sixteenths, so the mile and a quarter (of the Belmont) is not an issue. It's his fourth start, and he should benefit from the experience in the Derby, which will help."
Klaravich's second entry Growth Equity (12-1) enters the Belmont Stakes off a 2-length victory in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3), a traditional prep for the final jewel of the Triple Crown which was contested at Aqueduct Racetrack and marked his stakes debut.
"We're inching him out to see how far he will go," Brown said. "He always trained like a horse who wants to go longer, but I have to be realistic about his pedigree and looks. He did handle a mile and an eighth well and his speed figures are getting better."
A son of Nyquist bred by Stone Farm, the $425,000 Keeneland September buy has won two of his four career starts.
In terms of pedigree, Three Chimneys Farm's homebred Ottinho has that—and then some.
A Quality Road half brother to 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, he has a long ways to go to match his illustrious brother, but he was second last time out in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1), albeit 11 lengths behind Further Ado.
"Ottinho is a horse we've always thought highly of," said Brown, who is chasing his first Belmont Stakes win. "He's regally bred. He's a big, fancy, good-looking horse. The traditional mile-and-a-half distance would have suited him. He wants the mile and a quarter, but the question is if he is ready to run a figure good enough to win the race."
As a native of nearby Mechanicville, N.Y., Brown would cherish winning his first Belmont at the Spa in front of a slew of family and friends.
"My family is here. My daughter is graduating this month and will be bringing 20 of her friends to the race. This is a big deal for us," he said. "It's the final Belmont weekend here, so we went as big as could in all these prestigious races that will be run here for the last time."
Reflective of that, Brown entered horses in 19 of the 28 races June 5-6.
Given all of that action, it looks like the final days of the 2026 Triple Crown will definitely continue the roller coaster ride for Chad Brown.
