The Racing Hub : Big Brown

The Derby Road Most Traveled

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Over the last 25 years, Kentucky Derby winners have finished their last prep race with an average placing of 1.96. Here's a look at where they came from....(read more)

Spotting a Derby Winner

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:45:00 GMT

A look back at some of the most memorable Derby prep races over the last twenty years....(read more)

Big Brown is No Curlin

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:44:00 GMT

By John Clay, Lexington Herald Leader

Unlike last Saturday, this time the superstar delivered.

Big time.

There is only one true superstar on the Thoroughbred racing planet right now, and it isn't that worn-out 3-year-old who dissolved into a Big Brown meltdown in the Long Island heat during last Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

Curlin is king of the Sport of Kings, as the reigning Horse of the Year proved again Saturday, carrying 128 pounds in comfortable fashion, assuming control at the head of the stretch and cruising to a 4¼-length win in the Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Remember that pre-Belmont chatter of a possible matchup, if not match race, between Big Brown and Curlin somewhere down the line?

Continue reading...

The Great Days Are Now

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:31:00 GMT

By Alfred G. Vanderbilt, courtesy of NYTimes.com

These are the delicious days, the days of debate and doubt as we wait for the Belmont Stakes, the toughest race to win in the United States and the last leg of the Triple Crown. There is no better time to be a horse racing fan.

Now the questions begin. How many horses will have enough sand to face Big Brown’s power and the Belmont’s grueling distance? Optimists are what stuff the gate in the Derby. The Preakness is for those still clinging to hope. The beautiful racetrack on Long Island is a place for cynics and realists. Cynics assume Big Brown can’t be as good as he looks. Realists believe they’ve got a shot at taking second-, third- or fourth-place money.

The Belmont is a mile and a half in front of everybody who matters, and as the horses come through the tunnel and step onto the track, the roar of the crowd can knock off your glasses, cap and shoes. It’s not the sound of tourists from the Midwest calling out the names of their favorites. It’s the Animal, the Apple, whose voice is like the lion.

Read more...

From Seattle Slew to the Small Time

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:54:00 GMT

By Steve Zorn, courtesy of NYTimes.com

Right now, Bill Turner is the only living trainer of a Triple Crown winner. His horse, the great Seattle Slew, was undefeated in nine races, a streak that ended with his Belmont Stakes win in 1977. Bill might lose that distinction June 7, if Big Brown takes the Belmont, but for now the reporters are still dropping by his barn in the mornings, asking whether he thinks Big Brown will win, or just collecting memories of that past Triple Crown campaign.

Bill Turner is also my trainer. For the past six years, he has trained for my Castle Village Farm stable, wonderful horses all, but not exactly at Seattle Slew's level. Regardless, Bill shows up at Barn 44 at Belmont every morning to tend to his string of 20 horses. And he gives every horse -- even if it isn't quite as talented as his champion of 30-odd years ago -- the same care and attention he once lavished on Slew.

Bill's whole life has been about horses. Born in 1940, he grew up in the fox hunting country of southeast Pennsylvania. After a detour through veterinary school at Emory University in Atlanta, he briefly tried a career as a steeplechase jockey, then worked as an assistant to Hall of Fame jump trainer Burley Cocks before going out on his own in 1966. His first winner, Salerno, was also his first stakes winner, taking the Remsen in 1967.

Read more...

Goal in Sight for Big Brown

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:12:00 GMT

By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY

BALTIMORE — For the seventh time in 12 years, a 3-year-old Thoroughbred will take unwavering aim at one of the most difficult feats in sports when undefeated Big Brown advances to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at New York's Belmont Park.

There is one reason to believe that this colt, unscathed through five races in which he demolished the opposition by a combined 39 lengths, can succeed where Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones all fell short.

They are not Big Brown.

Trainer Kenneth McPeek thought of the recent failures and why some of them occurred — Real Quiet was nosed at the wire, War Emblem stumbled at the start, Charismatic broke down at the end — and then pondered Big Brown's oh-so-easy 4 3/4-length rout in the 133rd Preakness Stakes on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Great Horse?

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:53:00 GMT

By Joe Drape, NYTimes.com

BALTIMORE — It’s hard to find fault in Big Brown’s performance here in the Preakness. He was barely asked to run by the jockey Kent Desormeaux and buried an overmatched field.

Still, between now and the Belmont Stakes, we’re going to hear a great deal about whom Big Brown has beaten, and whether or not he is merely a superior horse in a mediocre crop of 3-year-olds. I ran into Robby Albarado Saturday night — he’s the regular rider for Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, and finished fourth in Saturday’s Preakness aboard Racecar Rhapsody.

Albarado laughed when asked if Big Brown was in Curlin’s league.

“It’s the difference between men and boys, and hopefully we’ll get to see that in the fall if they meet in the Gold Cup or Breeders’ Cup,” Albarado said. “Frankly, there were at least four 3-year-olds last year who were as good as Big Brown if not better. Street Sense, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday and Curlin.”

Jockey Chases Triple Crown While Son Can Still See It

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:05:00 GMT

By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY

BALTIMORE — When jockey Kent Desormeaux and undefeated Big Brown spring into action in the 133rd Preakness Stakes on Saturday, their bid to move to within one win of a Triple Crown will be accompanied by a rush of sights and sounds.

The jockeys' bright, shimmering silks will form a montage of colors after the starting gate snaps open. The fans' roar will all but propel the pounding hooves into the first turn at Pimlico Race Course.

There will be a wall of sound as the field turns for home. It will grow louder still if heavily favored Big Brown breaks free and takes another step toward becoming the 12th Triple Crown champion and the first since Affirmed in 1978.

Continue reading...

No Method, Just Madness

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:10:00 GMT

By Joe Drape, NYTimes.com

Rick Dutrow doesn’t mince words.

“I think that it’s our race to lose,” Dutrow said. “I think that he is the best horse in the race and I think if he breaks with the field, he’ll win the race.”

He also is right. I’m rooting for Big Brown to pull into Belmont with a shot at a Triple Crown and immortality. Still, there are a couple in here who have a remote shot at upsetting if Big Brown is off his game. At the least, this trio of 30-1 shots should be considered in the exotics.

My younger colleague Melissa boldly picks Icabad Crane on top. This is an improving colt with a win over the racetrack in the Tesio. He caught Mint Lane at the wire, and Mint Lane returned to run second in the Peter Pan to Casino Drive, the very large and talented colt in from Japan and aiming for the Belmont Stakes.

Continue reading...

The New Shooters' Stakes

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:56:00 GMT

Bill Christine, HorseRaceInsider.com

You'll need a scorecard for the 133rd running of the Preakness. Yankee Bravo? That name sort of rings a bell. Behindatthebar? Seems familiar. Giant Moon? I remember him. Vaguely. The Preakness has always been a haven for the Triple Crown's new shooters, but this is ridiculous. This isn't a field, it's a road company of "Ben-Hur." These were the understudies for the Kentucky Derby. They weren't good enough to run in Louisville, and now some of their names will actually be hung on the marquee in Baltimore. This Saturday, Pimlico should let everybody in on twofers.

What happened to Denis of Cork? Didn't he earn enough shipping money at Churchill Downs? Recapturetheglory, fifth in the Derby, was Preakness-bound for a while, but now he's not scheduled to run. Louie Roussel, his trainer, says that Recapturetheglory has a temperature. Roussel may have also noticed that his horse finished 11 3/4 lengths behind Big Brown in the Derby.

There have been some pretty bland Preaknesses--the 1982 running, which didn't even have Gato Del Sol, the Derby winner, comes to mind--but unless Big Brown wins by 50 lengths or sends the timer spinning, this version is as pale as an albino, and will be as thrilling as fishing through the ice. It figures to be as one-sided as a bullfight. Rick Dutrow, who trains Big Brown, said that he'll ship his charge from Kentucky to Maryland on Wednesday, but why bother? Big Brown ought to be able to mail this one in.

Safety First

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:33:00 GMT

By Alex Waldrop, NTRA.com

Like many of you, I watched Saturday’s Kentucky Derby and was in awe of the amazing performance of Big Brown and his talented jockey, Kent Desormeaux. Big Brown ran a race from the 20th post position that was remarkable. And Desormeaux rode a race that even I could appreciate as very skillful. Unfortunately for racing, events unfolded after the race that completely overshadowed Big Brown’s impressive performance.

Eight Belles, a beautiful gray filly trained by Larry Jones, was galloping out after her imposing second-place finish when something went terribly wrong and she collapsed on the track after fracturing bones in both front legs. Those of us in the stands at Churchill Downs were left wondering what had happened since she went down almost at the 7/8ths pole near the backstretch far away from the grandstand. Our only indication of trouble was the sight of one human ambulance and two horse ambulances making their way to the other side of the track. It clearly did not look good.

Read more...

Behind a Derby Favorite, Tragedy and Redemption

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:40:00 GMT

By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY

LOUISVILLE — "We're live, babe!"

That's horse trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.'s stable-speak, his way of telling friends he expects his colt Big Brown to win the 134th Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

For Big Brown, undefeated but having raced only three times, the Derby (4 p.m. ET, NBC; post time 6:04) is a chance to validate the hype that has made such an inexperienced colt the favorite among oddsmakers to win the most prestigious event in American horse racing.

For Dutrow, 48, the Derby is all that and much more: a potential validation of an unlikely resurgence, in work and in life.

A decade ago Dutrow was at rock bottom, living in Barn 1 at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack and struggling to catch on as a trainer after a tragedy and a series of missteps. His girlfriend had been murdered in a Schenectady, N.Y., home while their toddler daughter was nearby. He had problems with drugs. And his father - a highly regarded Maryland horse trainer who would die of pancreatic cancer in 1999 - had disowned Dutrow, dismayed at the hard-partying son's inability to make something of himself.

Read more...

Why Post 20 Isn't All That Bad

cdawahare@bloodhorse.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:26:00 GMT

By Alan Mann, NYTimes.com

The fact that Big Brown will break from post 20 doesn’t change my perception of his chances in the Derby. Richard Dutrow Jr. is putting his colt out there for all to see. No excuses now; he can’t get pinched between horses coming out of the gate, and chances are quite good that he won’t get touched at all with the speedy Gayego, who breaks just inside, figuring to go quickly forward rather than sideways.

Sure, he’ll have some speed breaking to the inside in Gayego, Bob Black Jack, Cowboy Cal and Recapturetheglory. But I don’t know that there are any War Emblems in there (and their owners certainly hope not); and indeed, Randy Moss’s pace figures suggest that Big Brown may have his way with those horses early. And even if he doesn’t quite get the lead (because, we’re told, he doesn’t have to), he figures to have a comfortable spot behind horses that I don’t believe will go the distance. I think Big Brown can go the route — he has the coolest pedigree in the field with his inbreeding to the classic sires Damascus and Round Table, and enough chefs-de-race to cook for the entire I.E.A.H. contingent. Read More...