Who’s Next? Marathon Specialist Next Romps Again in Brooklyn

[Wandering Eyes]

Marathon specialist Next (Not This Time) made it five straight victories while successfully defending his title in Friday's 1 3/8-mile GII Brooklyn S. at the Big A.

The 2-5 favorite stalked Drake's Passage (Tonalist) through a half mile in :49.29, took over under confident handling approaching the quarter pole and opened daylight in the stretch to win by 9 1/4 lengths. The gray completed his final eighth in a sensational :11.89.

Crupi (Curlin) tagged Drake's Passage for second.

“I always say that I don't know if the horse can do any better than he has, but he continues to come out and put on performances like that,” winning trainer Chief Stipe Cowans said.

“He just loves this, and we're going to try and keep doing it with him. We'll run him four or five times a year, whatever the marathon races are. Just keep doing it with him and hope he's around for a while because he's fun to be around and he's fun to watch do this.”

Claimed by Michael A. Foster off owner/breeder Silverton Hill and trainer Wesley Ward for $62,500 at Keeneland in the spring of 2022, last term's runaway GIII Greenwood Cup S. winner kicked off his 6-year-old campaign with an 11 1/4-length victory in the Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight S. going 1 1/2 miles at Churchill Downs May 1.

Pedigree Notes:

Next, one of 15 graded winners for Not This Time, was produced by the multiple stakes-placed Awesome Again mare Bahia Beach. Next was her final produce.

Friday, Belmont at The Big A
BROOKLYN S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont The Big A, 7-5, 4yo/up,
1 3/8m, 2:13.68, ft.
1–NEXT, 122, g, 6, by Not This Time
                1st Dam: Bahia Beach (MSP, $141,104),
                                by Awesome Again
                2nd Dam: Pop Princess, by Alphabet Soup
                3rd Dam: Relaxing Rhythm, by Easy Goer
O-Michael A. Foster; B-Silverton Hill, LLC (KY); T-William D.
Cowans; J-Luan Machado. $110,000. Lifetime Record:
21-11-0-1, $1,145,861. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Crupi, 122, c, 4, Curlin–Don'tforgetaboutme, by Malibu
Moon. ($275,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Repole Stable and St. Elias
Stables LLC; B-Claiborne Farm (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$40,000.
3–Drake's Passage, 118, c, 4, Tonalist–Raucous, by
Speightstown. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Robert S. Evans
(NY); T-Christophe Clement. $24,000.
Margins: 9 1/4, HF, 5. Odds: 0.45, 4.60, 3.70.
Also Ran: Masqueparade, Dai Vernon, Spencer's Boy Luna, Lure Him In.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

It's NEXT in the Brooklyn Stakes (G2) under @luanmachado85 for William Cowans! pic.twitter.com/3N0aDf8Zn2

— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) July 5, 2024

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