SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Aug. 28, 2019) – Trainer Ron Brown is known for his creative name choices for horses he has in his stable. His latest student, Maters N Taters, scored his first career win Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Indiana Grand in a $34,000 Two-Year-Old Maiden race contested at five and one-half furlongs.
Starting from post seven in the bulky field of 12, Jockey Eddie Perez had Maters N Taters ready to roll when the gate sprung open. The freshman son of Santiva rolled out to the front and controlled the tempo with Don’t Ask Kinmon and Rafael Mojica Jr. right at their heels. In the stretch, Maters N Taters began to place a little more distance between himself and the remainder of the field, striding away to a five and one-quarter length victory in a time of 1:06.57.
A longshot in the field, Maters N Taters paid $17.20, $9.00 and $4.80 across the board. It was his fourth career start for Brown, who also owns the gelding, and it marked the first career win for new breeder Michael G. Phelps of Hillsboro, Ind. Phelps is the co-breeder on Maters N Taters with his wife, Dr. Crystal Chapple.
“This is the first horse that I’ve had as a breeder to win a race,” said Phelps. “It’s pretty cool to look down and see your name in the program.”
Phelps and Chapple were trackside to welcome Maters N Taters into the winner’s circle with Brown. Although this is the first win for Phelps, Chapple and Brown have connected before for success.
“This colt (Maters N Taters) is a half brother to Black Nova,” said Brown. “Last year, when Black Nova won the stakes race here, I knew Crystal (Dr. Chapple) had his brother at home. I was at her farm the next morning to buy him before anyone else could beat me to it.”
Black Nova, another creatively named horse by Brown, is named after his first car in the 1960’s a black Nova. Maters N Taters follows the trend of names for food and beverages, such as Biscuits and Gravy, Pass the Biscuits and I Like Beer, who have all performed well for Brown.
“The best name I have is a two-year-old in my barn that will be racing soon,” smiled Brown. “His name is ‘To Fat to Fish.’ He’s had one start already and his next race is coming up soon.”
Regardless of their names, Brown has had a great season so far in 2019. He’s had 17 wins in the Thoroughbred ranks to be among the track’s top 10 trainers and seven wins in the Quarter Horse ranks, which also ranks him among the top 10. His Quarter Horse, Beach Treat, has won four of seven starts this season including a stakes win last week in the $86,600 Bob Woodard Memorial Classic.
“We’ve had a good year,” added Brown, a former owner of a trucking company in his native Connersville, Ind. “It’s a lot of fun.”
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