A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

GOCURLIN — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:03:50 GMT

Retiring Big Brown in his prime makes NO sense. I mean, it's not like he has a major injury or something. And the sport really needs a big star to make it popular yet again.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

insider p — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:01:53 GMT

Big Brown has created a tremendous amount of attention to the horseracing industry both good and bad,maybe more will be done to protect these fine athletes in the future.I wish BIG BROWN a safe race win or lose.whats meant to be will be.Every sport needs a super star and right now BB is our SS.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

B.graham — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:11:55 GMT

as weak as the 3yr olds are this year.big brown needs to prove he is great, by racing against curlin.dont you think?

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Matthew W — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:31:45 GMT

CURLIN is the reason you DON'T RETIRE!! Big Brown v Curlin BELONGS TO RACING HISTORY, just like Affirmed v Slew, Affirmed v Bid, Damascas v Dr Fager v Buckpasser---WE HAVE TO HAVE THIS because this trancends the dollars and cents of the Sport Of Kings--even without Curlin, I'd like him to prove it against older horses, like when Bid beat the olders in the Marlboro Cup by five, or like Alydar in the Whitney---no, Big Brown has done it easy vs very easy--so far---he's likely the Crown winner but he needs more of a showcase---I think he's one of the all-timers but I also need to see it---and I do know it when I see it---I've waited long to see a horse like Bid and I want to see him some more--(please)

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Bryce Be Quick — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:55:40 GMT

Note to Paula Weglarz and Claire Novak-- yes, I am glad Buckpasser isn't alive today with a trainer trying to use those glue-ons on his quarter-cracked feet-- those dang quarter cracks have GOT to be very painful. I would use my "real name" as well, but I feel better having my horse, first-born of 1986 Derby runner Wheatly Hall and ridden by Gary Stevens, doing the talking.

Liz-- excellent point about BB and stud duty: always hard to figure out how a guy might project in the breeding shed, and while I know his Sire, Boundary, never asked to go beyond a mile so we just don't know about those genes, really, there is little by way of classic two-turn distance coming up from the bottom, either. So yes, he could be a classic bust of epic proportions. Heaven knows Three Chimneys seemingly due for one of those. That's okay, my guy Exchange Rate over there will take up the slack :-)

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

longtime racing fan — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:39:21 GMT

Secretariat was syndicated for the mighty sum (for the time) of $6 million before he won the Triple Crown; he raced several more times afterward and yes, Onion defeated him once... but he showed that the Triple Crown wins were not flukes. He did not run away from competition and that one defeat in his 3-year-old year (he lost a couple as a 2 year old as I recall) certainly did not tarnish his reputation or value. For Big Brown to even approach the "pantheon of greats" he should follow a similar path. Grass, dirt, synthetic should make no difference. A true champion isn't afraid of competition. Every horse in the race is running on the same surface.

Barbaro won on grass, dirt, mud... if he had not had his accident he'd be retired by now anyway, but he'd probably have, as someone else stated above, gone to Europe to run against the good grass horses over there in the meantime.

The greatest of the greats, Man O'War, won 20 of 21 races...

If Curlin is truly being pointed to the Arc de Triomphe, then he is going for 1.5 miles on grass--- a true test of a champion, especially one who has only run on dirt before. His team isn't afraid of all those European (and other continents) grass runners... Curlin HAS been lightly raced, but he is still racing!!! Imagine what HIS stud value will be when he finally DOES retire.

I read an item in BloodHorse which clearly stated Big Brown's biggest hoof problem was a stone bruise, not a quarter crack. There IS a difference.

Considering how many of our recent Kentucky Derby winners have been sent off to Japan or Turkey, what difference does it make who won these races a few years down the road? Sometimes I wonder... Those of us who love racing for the HORSES aren't the ones who make the breeding decisions or write the races... and the truly sporting owners will keep their horses out there for longer than half the three-year-old year.

In the current atmosphere surrounding horse racing, it is necessary to remember that the INDUSTRY (all the thousands of farm and track workers, office staff, suppliers, real estate, etc.) depends on a lot of things the GAME provides... and the Great Unwashed Public needs to be SHOWN the good parts of the game as well as the ugly ones the media and radical weirdos focus on. Where is the PR? Forget "Go Baby Go" which was a disgusting turn-off... get the human-interest and cuddly baby foals out there... the beautiful farms and studly stallions... I had the good fortune to visit Newmarket, England this spring and it was wonderful to see the racing story from the broodmares and foals to the beautiful stallions and stud farms to looking down the breathtaking Rowley Mile racecourse from the finish line, to the Royal Box, to the historic Museum of Horseracing, the entire town depending on the racing thoroughbred.

Match races? NO. I saw Swaps and Ruffian. Full everyone-welcome races? YES.

IEAH, take some time to smell those roses... enjoy the marvelous HORSE... or go buy racing boats.

Retire BB when you have no more worlds to conquer, and you will find the mare owners beating down your door. For 2-3 years anyway. By then the get will prove him out one way or the other. He is linebred to Northern Dancer, Damascus, and Round Table... he ought to be able to hang around for at least another 6 months.

How soon did they forget Kelso, Forego and John Henry? Geldings, yes--- but they had huge fan followings. Lava Man is still very popular out here in the West. People who come to the track love to have a familiar name to follow. Horse racing has very little presence in today's newspapers or mainstream media... unless it's negative. Let's give them something positive and LASTING to look to and cheer on.

Thanks for letting me ramble... it's all part of the greater picture though.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Paula Weglarz — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:07:57 GMT

Claire, good for you for stating the obvious about this horse's feet. (I like that you, like me, post under your own legal name, too!)

I saw them Derby week and said "ouch" myself.

This horse may or may not hold up, and then what is that going to do to racing if we have a horse breakdown again on the track during another Triple Crown race.

And, btw, BB IS still racing with padded, glue on shoes on the front. They only reshod his back feet.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Paula Weglarz — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:05:12 GMT

Correct to the person who said this is no longer a sport, but an industry....

Gone are the days of the Sport of Kings, when 50,000 people showed up to see Native Dancer, the "Grey Ghost" and people had the sporting privilege of watching a horse make 22 starts and retire a champion.

Going into the Belmont, BB will be on Race 6 of his career..... only race 6. Native Dancer made at least 8 starts in his 2 year old year, and to me, that says volumes about what has happened in racing today.

Do we think the tracks are any less safer than they were in the 1950's? No... and there were no synthetic surfaces then.

What has made the thoroughbred weak is the breeding and use of medications, such as the steroid Winstrol, which Dutrow claims he doesn't know WHY they give it to his horses, but that it's allowed so they do....

Excuse me, but a steroid - an anabolic steroid - IS a performance enhancing drug, regardless of whether the NY Racing authorities or KY Horse Racing Authority classify it as "permitted" up to 72 hours prior to a race.

Also, greedy breeding practices allow for horses who are technically unsound to retire to stud and people line up to breed to these horses.

Horses are also overbred, in my opinion. When a horse has a stallion book as high as 150 mares to cover, then that's just too much of that bloodline being put into the breeding pool.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

gary camejo — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:04:13 GMT

Listen guys in this business, its quite simple, (MONEY TALKS, B.S WALKS)!!

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Claire Novak — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:52:10 GMT

Big Brown did not "overcome" bad hooves as stated by Anna. His feet are trimmed down and held together with glue and it's a lucky thing he hasn't foundered already... any real horseman who looks at his feet would agree those are some painfully unnaturally trimmed/shod hooves.

He hasn't "overcome" hoof issues - his connections have luckilly held his hooves together through this campaign - and the one positive thing about him retiring after the Belmont (should he do so) will be the fact that his feet will get the chance to grow back to a natural, pain-free length.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Liz — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:42:04 GMT

Bryce, believe me, I don't think a petition signed by every single person on the planet would change the plans for the big horse to be breeding mares by next spring. But I don't mind dreaming of getting BB and Curlin together in some nice race, but I am talking about this year. I can't say I think SA is the place it will happen. I would love to see them on the turf. I know it is all a pipe dream, Wall Street has spoken. And who can blame them, no race horse can come close to earning the kind of money a great stud can pull in. Cigar leads the all-time race earnings list with $9,999,815. Storm Cat pulled in more money with the first 20 mares he bred in 2006. And he bred 111 mares that year. BB may turn out to be a great stud and have a long career. He may also be out of "Gas," and by "The Side of The Road." ;) I doubt he will flop, but it is possible, and their best chance of getting big money for his breeding rights might be in the first few years before everyone finds out he is a dud.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Pam S. — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:36:04 GMT

Couldn't agree more with SB. I really liked Hard Spun and could not understand the point of his early retirement. If every racehorse who has accomplished much of anything must become a breeding animal so quickly, it is like multi-level marketing: You begin by selling a product (racing), but the whole point is to sign up people under you to sell product so that you make money off their sales (breeding). If everyone is doing this, obviously one day there will be too much breeding for too little racing -- much like too many Avon reps and too few interested customers.

Investors (owners) surely can see this coming, and therefore feel justified yanking their multimillions out before the whole "pyramid" collapses. What I don't understand is, don't the sheiks and Wall Streeters have, at some point, enough money to slow down? How much better can you eat? Oh, well, I'm just a workaday fan. But when I'm too old or disillusioned to bet or go to the track anymore, who will replace me?

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

hector — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:26:27 GMT

I doubt steroid laced horses continuing to run will do anything for this game.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

pinnacle — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:10:14 GMT

True horse lovers and racing enthsiasts enjoy being at the races almost anywhere. Here they are increasingly able to see offspring of "the greats" because their parents did not race to the point of injury or fatality.

If you have never made a major investment in a potential breeding animal, you may not realize that one of the best ways to improve racing is to "preserve" your animal so they can improve the breed and provide future greatnesss to be enjoyed by many at both the large and small tracks.

In my view, if the owner's were truly just interested in money or the "limelight" they would have relied on insurance as a financial backstop, pursued an extended racing career and delayed the sale of breeding rights until it would have been considerably larger.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

NIcole — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:58:38 GMT

It's a shame that the owners are caring more about the money, than the sport. Big Brown is a great horse but I don't respect the owners. I do respect Curlin's owners for giving the sport what it wants THE HORSE. That is the problem with the sport today, Money hungry people.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

edzepplin — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:24:14 GMT

I was attracted to TB racing when I was 16 yo by Secretariat' Triple Crown accomplishments, not the fact he raced as a 4 yo. In fact I was bummed out when he lost after the Triple Crown. If Big Brown achieves on the same level as Big Red, That is the best this industry can hope for in terms of PR in my opinion. I hope he wins the Triple Crown and faces off with Curlin in the BC classic, then retire.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Sherrie — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:50:12 GMT

It amazes me that owners spend huge amounts of money, and sometimes a lifetime to get a great horse, and then they cannot wait to get him retired. See, Bernardini, Street Sense, Hard Spun, etc. etc. etc.

Please, you guys that are lucky enough to get a wonderful horse, Keep the RACE in racehorse.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Bryce Be Quick — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:46:19 GMT

Liz-- your first posting nails it: IEAH operates along the Wall Street model, and that's that, period. You thus delude yourself into thinking in subsequent posts a PR-driven grassroots campaign could convince IEAH to abandon its business model. Conversely, while Roy Jackson a consumate business person, he both loves horses AND has Gretchen as a futher contravening force in the decisionmaking. Barbaro would thus likely still be running on the turf in Europe, and winning.

Derby Fan-- when I was at Three Chimneys last summer all horses were being routinely galloped, so I think, as Jason suggests, you are being hoodwinked into thinking Smarty HAD to be retired when he was and for the reasons publically reported. Interestingly, Three Chimneys the only major stud operation I am aware of that DOES as a matter of operating policy routinely gallop its horses each day, concluding the risk of injury more than offset by the many positives for the horse, to include both the mental and the physical.

Jason-- you might also want to cite another Three Chimneys stander in Point Given and his "tendon injury" one week AFTER his Travers win "necessitating" his retirement.

BTW-- how long will it take Three Chimneys to get the Dutrow-applied "Winny" out of BB's system-- routine injections of an anabolic steroid to keep BB and all of Dutrow's horses "with a nice shine to their coats otherwise they look dull". Memo to Dutrow-- use a WeatherBeeta polyster airflow mesh rug instead--shines up my 19 Year Old retired off-the-track t-bred's coat beautifully, and at a fraction of the cost. Yeah, I know, the Winny is "legal". Nice response, Dutrow. Band the 'roids and band Dutrow- long life to BB at Three Chimneys.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

SB — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:32:48 GMT

The Jockey Club holds all the power needed to address these issues once and for all. Providing incentives is the ONLY way to motivate a change in behavior. To wit, if the Jockey Club made one simple rule change, the sport would be dramatically changed for the better. Here's the rule:

No thoroughbred foal can be registered by the Jockey Club unless sired by a stallion who is 5 years of age or greater at the time of breeding.

You don't have to monkey around with purse structures or 4yo Triple Crowns or anything else; all that stuff would work itself out. This leaves the option open if you own a stallion who is unable to race on; you can still stand him, and breeders can still choose to breed to him. It's just that you're going to have to feed him an extra year, and the breeders will now have lots of others to choose from who can DOCUMENT racing durability and soundness and appropriate maturation and development, etc.

Take Hard Spun as a great example. Who is to say: if he had been allowed to race as a 4 year old, could he have caught up with Curlin? Could he have been a great grass horse? Could he have proved to be the top miler in the world? Could he have etched a legacy as a tough gritty hombre who never goes away and is competitive at multiple distances and gets better and better with time? Maybe so, but now breeders have to guess.

The truth is, the quality of the breed would improve over time with this one simple sentence. And at the end of the day, that helps every single person in the industry.

I don't know who truly holds the reins of the Jockey Club, but they can easily fix a lot of it if they simply choose to do so. Do they have the imagination and leadership and guts to? Would that it were so.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

dfranz — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:27:06 GMT

When I worked at the track, we used to daydream about owning a horse and traveling with him everywhere to run in and win races. I think it will take owners with vision and deep pockets to see that the reason for going to the breeding shed in the end, is to what? Attempt to create another horse to win races? When you already have that, enjoy it and for heavens sake, compete where they can win.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Katherine Cyrier — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:25:42 GMT

There will come a day, I think sooner rather than later, when those of us who love this sport and these wonderful horses will no longer care to watch rich Princes and investment bankers buy racing stars and race them to the breeding shed. When there are no longer fans in the stands to watch their "investments" or follow their hero, what is the market value of their "product"?

The "Sport of Kings" has changed I fear forever.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Jennifer — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:21:15 GMT

If we could begin breeding horses with better, stronger limbs then I think retirement would fall later in their lives. Every owner is worried about a breakdown. Soon as they win big they are retired. The only expection at this moment is Curlin but is that because some of his connections are in a legal battle? When the legal battle is over, Curlin will be retired.

If we breed better horses, sure it means they are not so fast, what we see a race a few seconds longer. I dont mind if it means stronger limbs on a racetrack. But accidents do happen.

And the Smarty Jones situation. How come we didn't hear of this issues involving his hooves earlier in his career? We didn't. All of sudden he was suffering for months with hoof problems. I don't believe it for a second, it was just an excuse to get him in a stall on a farm and off the racetrack.

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Reekardo — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:20:18 GMT

Naturally we'd all like to see these top class horses race as 4 yr. olds,but if it was your $50 million on the line every time your horse ran my guess is you too would retire him...I know I would even though it would'nt be "good for the game"

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

runfast159 — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:20:06 GMT

Has anyone been paying any attention? What the industry needs, especially to secure the future of racing and the thoroughbred as a viable breed, is SOUND HORSES. An 8 race career (should Brown race beyond the Belmont) does not show me that a horse is durable. If a horse cannot compete past 8 races because he breaks down, that horse probably shouldn't widely be bred to to begin with. Big Brown has more to prove than the fact that he was insanely good for a very short period of time. True greatness must also be measured over time...

re: A Plea to Iavarone: Let Him Run

Whitney — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:15:45 GMT

I don't think it is fair to blame the owners of Big Brown for wanting to retire him before he can be injured. This sport is no longer run by racing, it is run by breeding. Looking back at Man O'War, Seabiscuit, etc. does no good because the times were very different. Man O' War as a yearling was sold for a mere $5,000 from a pre-eminent breeder of the day. Secretariat's syndication deal was unprecedented. Now, sires are commanding outrageous fees, yearlings are sold in the hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars, who would want to pass that up? When racing is once again the purpose, and improving the breed the purpose of racing, then you will have your reforms.