Tribhuvan and Rockemperor look to give Brown fourth score in G1 $750K Sword Dancer
At 0h32, on August 26, 2021 • By SARATOGA
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle a pair of strong contenders in Tribhuvan and Rockemperor, who will square off against a talented field of Grade/Group 1-winners in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer at Saratoga Race Course.
The Sword Dancer, contested at 1 1/2-miles on the inner turf for older horses, provides a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1, $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on November 6 at Del Mar and is part of a loaded Runhappy Travers Day card featuring seven stakes and six Grade 1s, offering $4.6 million in total purse money.
Brown, who has won this event previously with Big Blue Kitten [2013], Flintshire [2016] and Annals of Time [2019], will look to tie Hall of Famer Bill Mott, represented here by defending champion Channel Maker, with four Sword Dancer scores.
Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso’s Tribhuvan, a 5-year-old French-bred son of Toronado, has utilized a front-running approach to record consecutive triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in three starts this year.
Tribhuvan posted a dynamic score in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Fort Marcy [103] in May ahead of a runner-up effort to stablemate Domestic Spending in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Manhattan [101] in June, both at Belmont.
Last out, Tribhuvan made every pole a winning one to capture the 11-furlong Grade 1 United Nations [102] over firm Monmouth Park turf on July 17.
The Irish-bred Rockemperor, a 5-year-old multiple graded-stakes placed son of Holy Roman Emperor, will look to break through at the top flight.
Rockemperor won a 10-furlong optional-claiming event in June at Belmont ahead of a closing second last out in the 11-furlong Grade 2 Bowling Green won by Sword Dancer-rival Cross Border.
“He ran well last time. He’s a horse that’s always knocking on the door in these bigger races, so hopefully he steps it up here,” Brown said.
Flavien Prat will pilot Tribhuvan, carrying a field-high 124 pounds, from the inside post, while Irad Ortiz, Jr. will guide Rockemperor, listed at 118 pounds, from post 3.
