Hopeful Winner Chancer McPatrick Heads Champagne

The interesting part of a graded stakes for 2-year-olds in early October is the mix of proven ability and untapped potential.

You’ll find that Oct. 5 in the $500,000 Champagne Stakes (G1) for 2-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack.

In one corner is New York’s leader of the 2-year-old male division, the unbeaten Hopeful Stakes (G1) winner Chancer McPatrick .

Facing him in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series event for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) are nine rivals, only one of them a graded stakes winner, topped by a pair of debut winners from the barn of eight-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, Tip Top Thomas and Uncaged .

“It looks like another good renewal of the Champagne,” Pletcher said about the one-turn mile test.

For sure.

While success in summertime 2-year-old stakes does not always equate to Triple Crown victories, Flanagan Racing’s Chancer McPatrick has won his two starts for trainer Chad Brown in a manner that indicates he should not be fazed by added distance or an extra turn.

“He’s doing really well and has been impressive in both starts. He overcame a lot in the Hopeful,” Brown said. “Since then he’s been training and acting like an experienced older horse.”

After rallying from 10th and racing seven wide to win by a length in his 6 1/2 furlongs July 27 debut at Saratoga Race Course, in the Sept. 2 seven-furlong Hopeful jockey Flavien Prat briefly came out of the irons after hitting the starting gate. The son of McKinzie was eighth after the opening quarter-mile but then rallied strongly in the stretch to catch the 3-5 favorite Ferocious and win by a half-length.

“To have that happen and still win a grade 1 race like the Hopeful, it was a great effort,” Brown said about the colt bred by Rigney Racing.

Brown said he initially considered sending the son of the Bernardini mare Bernadreamy to Keeneland for Saturday’s longer, two-turn Breeders’ Futurity (G1) but opted to stay in New York.

“The more I thought about it, not having to ship him, with the Breeders’ Cup in mind, came into play. I want to limit the shipping,” Brown said.

Pletcher said there were high hopes for both Tip Top Thomas and Uncaged in their Spa debuts.

“Both are talented colts that worked well for their debuts,” the Hall of Famer said. “With Tip Top Thomas, we expected him to be quick enough to win first time out. Being a Curlin , we felt Uncaged could win at two turns down the road, but he was professional enough to get the job done as well.”

James Bakke and Gerard Isbister’s Tip Top Thomas showed speed throughout in his Aug. 24 debut and held on to win by a head in a six-furlong test.

“He had some good gate works and showed natural speed and he carried it over,” Pletcher said about the son of Volatile . “It was pretty straightforward and it looked like a quality race.”

Uncaged, owned by his breeder WinStar Farm and Mike Repole’s Repole Stable, was victorious by 1 3/4 lengths in his Aug. 3 debut at six furlongs on a muddy track.

Pletcher said he was planning all along to run Tip Top Thomas in the Champagne but considered sending Uncaged to the Breeders’ Futurity at a longer 1 1/16-mile distance.

“It was a close call with Uncaged,” Pletcher said. “With Tip Top Thomas we were sure we wanted to stay in New York with the one turn. We were not as convinced with where to go with Uncaged. But since he showed enough speed to win at six furlongs we felt like the mile would be OK. We also have Tenacious Leader in the Breeders’ Futurity for Mike Repole and he wanted to spilt his colts up.”

With a free spot in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar at stake, the field also includes the New York-bred Mo Plex , who won the July 13 Sanford Stakes (G3) at the Spa. The son of Complexity bred by Everything’s Cricket Racing is coming off a win in the state-bred Funny Cide Stakes for trainer Jeremiah Englehart and owner R and H Stable.

Also entered are debut winners Lethal Speed (Kantharos ), Vekoma Rides (Vekoma ), Colonel Bob (Yorkton ), and Executive Order (Unified ).