Brown prizes relationship with Ramsey

Having worked for Hall of Fame trainers Bobby Frankel and Shug McGaughey,

Chad Brown had a solid foundation when he opened his own stable not quite six

years ago. One of his first clients was the outgoing, outspoken Ken Ramsey.

"When he hired me, he said, 'I'll give you a few horses to get started and,

man, I want to be the first winner for you, because you're going to have a good

career,'" Brown recalled Thursday morning. "He was very positive about me going

on my own and was confident I'd do well as a trainer."

Brown's relationship with Ramsey came full circle on Wednesday, when he sent

out Granny Mc's Kitten, a Kitten's Joy homebred, to win the P.G. Johnson stakes

for Ramsey's Saratoga Race Course record 19th victory as an owner. Brown has won

three stakes for Ramsey at the meet, including the Sword Dancer Invitational

with Big Blue Kitten, and the John's Call with Hyper.

"It's really great to be a part of that for the Ramseys," said Brown, a native

of nearby Mechanicville, New York. "Ken and Sarah have been with me since I went out

on my own. I'm at my home track. The horse is by their flagship stallion. It all

came together, and I'm so happy to be a part of it for them. The guy trusts me

with a lot of his better horses, and it feels good when you come through for

him."

It was Ramsey who gave Brown his first career victory, with a gelded son of

Jules named Dual Jewels. Making his 41st career start, Dual Jewels came 10 wide

down the stretch and won by 4 1/2 lengths as the favorite in an 11-horse field at

Churchill Downs on November 27, 2007.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux, Dual Jewels took the $8,680 winner's

share of the $14,000 purse, and was promptly claimed for $5,000 by owner-trainer

Mike Johnson.

"We were dropping the horse a couple levels because he really wanted to own the

first winner I trained," Brown said. "He said, 'Here's one right here. I want

you to drop that thing as far as you can,' and we did. We dropped it in and the

horse won, and there was a bunch of claims for it, at least a dozen. He didn't

care. He was fine with it. They've been with me ever since.

"From having just a

couple horses with me to now having about a dozen horses, they're not only great

clients of mine, but great owners for the game in general."

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