Brown’s turf playground in the Fall is at Del Mar

Officially, the final weekend of Del Mar’s fall season is known as the Turf Festival — seven stakes races in four days over the withering grass course.

Unofficially, it’s the Chad Brown Eastern Invasion Festival.

Over the years, the New York-based trainer has won nine races during the Turf Festival, including four last year. This year, Brown has shipped west eight of the 18 imports entered in the Turf Festival.

Leading Brown’s assault team is Viadera, who will be defending her win in Sunday’s Matriarch Stakes for older fillies and mares.

The Matriarch is one of two Grade I, $400,000 stakes in the Turf Festival. The Hollywood Derby for 3-year-olds will be contested Saturday at 11/8 miles. The Matriarch will be contested over a mile.

Long shot Neige Blanche held off 1-5 favorite Luck to win Thanksgiving Day’s Grade III Red Carpet Stakes opener to the Turf Festival.

The event continues today with the Grade II Hollywood Turf Cup.

Saturday’s three graded stakes are the Hollywood Derby, the Grade II Seabiscuit Handicap and the Grade III Jimmy Durante.

Sunday’s program includes the Grade III Cecil B. DeMille Stakes and the Matriarch.

Brown is one of four eastern trainers shipping in horses for the Turf Festival. The invasion also includes jockey brothers Irad Jr. and Jose Ortiz and John Velazquez. The Ortiz brothers won seven races between them during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar Nov. 5-6 and Irad remains seventh in the fall meeting jockey standings with five wins.

Over the seven previous years that Del Mar has hosted a fall meeting, Brown has saddled three winners in both the Hollywood Derby and Matriarch. He has scored one win in the Red Carpet, Durante and DeMille. Last year he triumphed in the Red Carpet (Orglandes), Durante (Fluffy Socks), Hollywood Derby (Domestic Spending) and Matriarch (Viadera). Irad Ortiz was aboard three of the four.

First up for Brown will be Rockemperor, the morning-line favorite in today’s $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup — a 1½-mile endurance test for older horses. Rockemperor stayed out west to train after finishing eighth in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf. Flavien Prat will be aboard the 5-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor.

On Saturday, Brown will have early favorite and five-time stakes winner Public Sector (Irad Ortiz Jr.) and Sifting Sands (Jose Ortiz) in the Hollywood Derby and Flop Shot (Irad) and early favorite Sacred Life (Jose) in the Seabiscuit.

Brown will be represented by defending champ Viadera (Prat) and Regal Glory (Jose Ortiz) in Sunday’s Matriarch and Verbal (Jose Ortiz) in DeMille. Both races are at a mile with the DeMille being for 2-year-olds.

Out of Luck

With Prat aboard, Luck went into Thursday’s feature a 1-to-5 favorite to win the 13/8-mile, Red Carpet marathon for older fillies and mares.

But Neige Blanche ($24.80) led wire-to-wire, holding off Luck at the wire to win the $100,000 Grade III stakes by a long head.

“I thought I’d be running second behind someone,” said winning jockey Juan Hernandez. “She usually relaxes better if she’s got a horse in front of her. But today, no one wanted the front and she seemed fine out there, so I just let her keep on going.

“When we were in the stretch, she sensed Luck coming on the outside and she picked it up. She didn’t want to get beat.”

Neige Balance was the second of Hernandez’s two winners Thursday giving him a two-win lead in the jockey race over Prat, who was blanked.

Notable

Del Mar honored retiring trainer Art Sherman with a winner’s circle ceremony after Thanksgiving Day’s fourth race.

Jockeys Tiago Pereira and Geovanni Franco will be moving their tack to Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., after the Del Mar season ends Sunday. They will be represented by Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. Oaklawn’s season opens Dec. 3.

Center is a freelance writer.