The Racing Hub : Joe Drape

Great Horse?

cdawahare — 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.”

No Method, Just Madness

cdawahare — 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.

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Q&A: Joe Drape from Churchill Downs

cdawahare — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:22:00 GMT

The Rail invites readers to submit questions for Joe Drape, The New York Times’s Eclipse Award-winning horse racing writer.

To submit a question, add a comment below. Joe will be checking in from Churchill Downs throughout the day Thursday to talk about the Derby field, the draw, workouts and anything else readers want to know about.

Have a question about synthetic surfaces? Want to know more about Big Brown’s glue-on shoes? Just ask.

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