Brass Hat returns, part deux

[my miss storm cat]

Back on Track
By LINDA YOUNKIN


Mark July 8 on your calendar.

That's the date when Brass Hat is likely to make his second comeback in horse racing.

Brass Hat, a 6-year-old gelding owned and bred by Fred Bradley and trained by Buff Bradley, hasn't raced in over a year after suffering an injury last July.

"He's doing very well," Buff Bradley said in a telephone interview Monday. "Right now we're looking at July 8 at Churchill, an allowance race."

Brass Hat's last race was the Stephen Foster Handicap last June at Churchill Downs. He finished fifth in that race then suffered a broken bone about two weeks later.

There was concern the latest injury might end Brass Hat's racing career.

"The injury he had was a fractured sesamoid," Bradley said. "That's a small bone in the ankle. It sits behind the ankle actually. The blood supply to that area is restricted. It's a harder area to heal, and it takes longer to heal, but he's doing well."

This will be the second time Brass Hat has returned from an injury. He suffered a condylar fracture as a 3-year-old and didn't race for more than a year after that setback.

Brass Hat recuperated from his most recent injury at Indian Ridge Farm in western Franklin County, and he returned to serious training the first of April.

"He's six now, but he's doing very well," Bradley said. "He still has the will to get out there and run."

He's even been doing better in workouts lately.

"He likes workouts," Bradley said, "but he usually doesn't turn in fast times. He's not putting all his effort in. More recently he's been more on it, turning in pretty fast times without being asked too much."

So next up for Brass Hat will most likely be an allowance race July 8 at Churchill Downs, and how that race goes will determine what's next in his career. In 15 career starts Brass Hat has gone 6-4-0 with earnings of $1,233,473.

"We'll see how he does when he comes back," Bradley said. "The competition will be tough. It's Churchill, and it's an allowance race that will be tough. He's been off quite a while.

"We're taking a lot of positives into that race," he added, "but it's not a gimme."

http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/2152151