Brass Hat still going strong at age nine

With a bid for a repeat victory in the $100,000 Louisville H. (G3) just a

week away, Fred Bradley's homebred veteran BRASS HAT (Prized) tuned-up for the 1

1/2-mile turf test with a sharp five furlong work over the fast dirt at

Churchill Downs on Saturday morning

The nine-year-old gelding zipped five-eighths in 1:00 2/5 under veteran

jockey Charles Woods Jr., as regular rider and workout partner Calvin Borel was

in Baltimore to ride Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver (Maria's Mon) in the

Preakness S. (G1) at Pimlico. The move was the third-fastest of 23 at the

distance.

Trainer William "Buff" Bradley, the owner-breeder's son, is thrilled with the

spark displayed by his veteran star as Brass Hat approaches his third start of

the year. He opened the season with an eighth-place run behind in the Pan

American S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park and followed it with a strong runner-up

finish in the Elkhorn S. (G2) on the Keeneland turf.

That runner-up finish improved Brass Hat's career record to 9-7-4 in 35 races

and boosted his earnings to $2,087,110. Those numbers include a victory on dirt

in the Donn H. (G1) and a runner-up finish -- later vacated because of a

medication infraction -- in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), both in 2006. Those

are just two highlights of a career that began with a runner-up finish in a race

for $15,000 claiming horses in January 2004 at Turfway Park.

A few days after his Elkhorn run, Brass Hat traveled to Frankfort, Kentucky,

where the farm of his owner, a former Kentucky state senator, is located. The

international exploits of the veteran who was bred and raised on the elder

Bradley's farm have made him a folk hero to residents near that city and Brass

Hat was honored in Kentucky's capital city with a day named in his honor.

"It was so cool," Buff Bradley recalled. "I took him off the trainer and put

him in a portable stall -- a 10' x 20' stall that was open all the way around --

and he never turned a hair. He worked the crowd like a true politician. He ate

peppermints out of all the kids' hands, and Calvin came and spoke. We had two

governors there -- Brereton Jones and Julian Carroll -- and (former Keeneland

Association President) Ted Bassett came and spoke."

The event that honored both Brass Hat and his owner-breeder was a fundraiser

for a museum in Frankfort.

"It turned out to be a great day," Buff Bradley said. "He got to go home for

a few days and they had a little party for him and everything. But since then

he's come back to the track and done very well. We're on target to run next

weekend."

The Louisville figures to offer an enticing match-up of what could be billed

as the "Senior Tour" of Kentucky racing as Brass Hat's rivals could include

SILVERFOOT (With Approval), a three-time Louisville 'Cap winner (2004-06) who is

now 10 years old.

"I've been watching him train and I'd be surprised if he didn't go in there,"

Bradley said of Silverfoot. "It looks like he's doing very well, too."

Whatever happens next Saturday and the rest of the year with Brass Hat is a

bonus for Bradley and his father. Their star has suffered a pair of significant

injuries during his racing career, but has come back in stakes-winning form from

each setback.

"I thought he was done at five," Bradley said. "So the last four years have

been great. We truly didn't expect it. It wasn't going to break our hearts if he

didn't get to run after everything he had already done for us. He's been

something."