INDIANTOWN, Fla. – Three times in the last seven years, as the field turned into the stretch of the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown thought his horses were in position to win the race. It wasn’t to be. In 2018, Good Magic had to settle for second, 2 1/2 lengths behind Justify. In 2022, the late-running Zandon couldn’t see out the 1 1/4 miles and finished third, 1 1/2 lengths behind longshot winner Rich Strike. Then, in 2024, Sierra Leone couldn’t maintain a straight course through the stretch and fell a nose short of the rail-skimming Mystik Dan. “Those are three good chances that, turning for home, I thought could win,” Brown said during a recent interview in his office at the Payson Park training center. “It’s a very tricky race. Obviously, running 3-year-olds a mile and a quarter in May on dirt it’s a very unique feat. Everything has to go right. . . . I find it to be the most challenging race to get to in good shape and we haven’t won. It’s a real minefield to get there.” Sierra Leone’s nose loss was just the 10th time in 150 runnings of the Kentucky Derby that the race was decided by that small of a margin. It was the first time since 1996 when Grindstone bested Cavonnier by a nose. Cavonnier was trained by Bob Baffert, who would come back in 1997 and win the race with Silver Charm. Baffert has since won five more Derbies. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Brown, who also ran Domestic Product (13th) in last year’s Kentucky Derby, has a 0-2-1 record from nine starters over seven Derbies. It is one of the few major races the five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has yet to conquer. “We’ve been knocking on the door, it’s one of the few races we haven’t won. Our team, so clearly we’re moving to the top of that list – like in any sport coaches who haven’t won the Super Bowl, golfers who haven’t won a major,” said Brown, 46. “For Derby, we’re moving up as far as one of the top stables that haven’t won that race yet. Hopefully, our turn will come. I don’t know if it will be this year or not.” Saturday, Brown will find out more about his chances for this year’s Kentucky Derby when he brings two-time Grade 1-winning 2-year-old Chancer McPatrick back to the races in the Grade 3, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby. Brown also has Hill Road, third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, in the race. Hill Road will be making his first start for Brown. Chancer McPatrick, winner of the Hopeful and Champagne last year, had a tiny flake surgically removed from a front ankle after he finished sixth in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. Chancer McPatrick also had a quarter crack on a hind foot. “It definitely backed me up,” Brown said. “Over the last three weeks, he’s made up a lot of ground quick. I wasn’t quite sure he was going to get there in time. He’s about 80 percent ready, that’s good enough to get him started. We’ll run him here and evaluate what we’re going to do after that.” Chancer McPatrick overcame adverse trips in his first wins last year. In his maiden, going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga, he dropped back to last before launching a rally to win by a length. In the Hopeful, he hit the side of the gate when the doors opened, causing jockey Flavien Prat to lose his irons, and again rallied from the back to win by a half-length. Brown will be adding blinkers to Chancer McPatrick’s equipment for the Tampa Bay Derby, hoping to keep him from having too much to do. Hill Road was transferred to Brown following his third-place finish in the BC Juvenile when he was trained by Adrian Murray, who started the son of Quality Road twice on turf in Ireland. Brown said Hill Road needed time to recover from bone remodeling, causing him to get his training started late. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “Over the last two weeks he’s really jumped forward in his works and his coat,” Brown said. The horse has come forward this time of year. With 3-year-olds – any division really – that’s what you’re looking for, who’s coming forward, who’s changing for the better.” Brown will likely give Garamond, third in last Saturday’s Gotham at Aqueduct, a shot around two turns in the Wood Memorial. Garamond fits the profile of a Cloud Computing or Early Voting as a lightly raced horse who benefited from skipping the Derby to await the Preakness, a race both of those horses won. ◗ The Tampa Bay Derby was expected to draw a field of seven when entries closed Wednesday afternoon. Others expected included Owen Almighty, the Sam F. Davis runner-up; Patch Adams, beaten favorite in the Southwest; Brodeur, a winner of two straight; Filoso, third in the Breeders’ Futurity; and Naughty Rascal, the official winner of the Pasco Stakes following the disqualification of Owen Almighty. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.