Brass Hat to be honored during farewell ceremony at Churchill

Brass Hat to be honored during farewell ceremony at

Churchill

"He still really has the want-to," Bradley said. "If he was ready to

run in the Louisville H. (G3) tomorrow, he'd be in the starting gate.

But he's not ready and I thought it would just take too much time to get

him ready to compete this year."

The Bradleys could never be accused of being overly ambitious with Brass Hat,

who started his career as a three-year-old in a race for $15,000 claiming horses

on January 29, 2004, at Turfway Park. He finished second that day at odds of

32-1, but two starts later scored his first career victory in a 38-1 upset in

Turfway's Rushaway S. By the end of his first racing season Brass Hat had also

collected victories in the Ohio Derby (G2) and Indiana Derby (G2).

He rebounded successfully from two major injuries during his career to

compile a record of 10-8-5 in 40 races with earnings of $2,173,561. Other

highlights included victories at five in the Donn H. (G1) at Gulfstream Park and

New Orleans H. (G2) at Fair Grounds. The bay also won the $500,000 Massachusetts

H. in 2007 and the 2005 Prairie Bayou S. at Turfway Park.

Brass Hat shifted almost exclusively to the grass late in his career and

scored emotional victories for the Bradleys in Churchill Downs' Louisville H.

(G3) in 2009 and a major win as a nine-year-old in last year's Sycamore S. (G3)

at Keeneland. His numbers would be even more glittering had Brass Hat not been

disqualified from a runner-up finish in the 2007 running of the Dubai World Cup

(UAE-G1) at Nad Al Sheba.

Brass Hat compiled 10 stakes placings, including third-place finishes in the

2009 United Nations S. (G1) and Sword Dancer Invitational (G1), and set two new

track records at Gulfstream and Churchill during his career.

"It will be an emotional day, but no more emotional than watching him any

other day," Bradley said of his veteran star's Saturday farewell. "It has been

so special to watch and be around this horse, especially in later years when he

won the Louisville H. here and won the Sycamore at Keeneland last year at nine.

All my barn crew is going to walk over to the paddock with him, so I'll get to

share the moment with them."