Big Brown’s Trainer Ready to Testify The New York Times Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, said he intends to be prepared next week when he appears before a Congressional hearing examining safety issues in thoroughbred racing.
Just What Is Good for Horse Racing? San Francisco Chronicle One of our most disturbing national fetishes is our newfound fascination with the answer to the question "Is Circumstance X good for Sport Y?"
Software Creator Stoic about Big Brown's Belmont Bust MSNBC Not one of the 1,000 computer simulations Michael Calderone ran before the Belmont Stakes had Big Brown pulling up and finishing last.
June 15, 2008
I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little hard physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I highly suggest you get one.
In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you to read with your morning coffee.
See you on Monday.
J. Peterman
From The New York Times:
In Barn 12 on Sunday morning, Nick Zito accepted congratulations for spoiling yet another Triple Crown bid. Just as he did in 2004, Zito stopped the coronation of a Triple Crown champion. Four years ago, he did it with the 36-1 shot Birdstone against Smarty Jones. This time, it was a 38-1 long shot named Da' Tara beating Big Brown.
What happened Saturday in the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes, however, was far more shocking, and perhaps sad.
Big Brown was considered such a stone-cold lock to become the 12th Triple Crown champion that industry executives had already printed invitations for a celebration of the colt Monday at Tavern on the Green.
In Barn 2, Big Brown's temporary home at Belmont Park, there was no one around Sunday morning to explain not only how the big bay was beaten, but also how he had to be pulled up under his jockey, Kent Desormeaux, before running even two-thirds of the mile-and-a-half race. Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow, was nowhere to be found, nor were any of his owners.
Big Brown seemed fine as he walked the barn with his regular exercise rider, Michelle Nevin; the diagnosis, as well as the prognosis, was the same as it was late Saturday night. He had been examined, scoped, poked and prodded by veterinarians.
"Nothing, nothing and nothing," Michael Iavarone, a co-president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, which owns part of Big Brown, said later in the day by telephone. "He scoped clean. His feet are ice cold. The quarter crack is not an issue. We're perplexed. No one can figure this out. We're watching him closely and hope we didn't miss anything."
As usual, the second-guessing was rampant. Did Desormeaux wrangle him too hard early, taking the run out of Big Brown? Were the three days of missed training because of the quarter crack and Dutrow's careful training schedule responsible for an out-of-shape horse? Could it have been the weather?
Belmont Park NYRA.com Belmont Park is a 430-acre racetrack in Elmont, N.Y. There are two race meetings at Belmont Park in 2008: the 59-day Spring/Summer meeting will be from April 30 to July 20; and the 38-day Fall Championship meeting will be from Sept. 5 to Oct. 26.
The History of Pimlico preakness.com Historic Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes, first opened its doors on October 25, 1870, making it the second oldest racetrack in the nation behind Saratoga, which debuted in 1864 in upstate New York.
The Kentucky Derby, 1874-99 kentuckyderby.com In 1787, The Commons, a park-like block near Lexington's Race Street was used by horsemen for racing. By 1789, complaints by "safety minded" citizens led to the formal development of a race meet at The Commons.
To be be a winner, to be first, everything has to come together at the right moment. Or you just have to be lucky.
All the factors that could've made Big Brown a winner didn't come together on race day. There are probably as many reasons for that as there are dollar bills bet at the race track.
Or, maybe, his luck just ran out.
To: Capt Neptune,
Safe voyage. And remember "second star to the right and straight on till morning".
I am utterly uneducated in this matter. After it happened, I heard alot of theories flying about, none of which sounded any more or less plausible to my inexperienced eyes and ears.
One person said they thought the jockey had thrown the race by pulling the horse up unneccesarily. Does anyone have any opinions on that? My first suspicion is that the accusation is hogwash. If I owned such a prominent horse and were entering such an important race, I would make sure my jockey was known to be of unimpeachable integrity. And, for all I know, that description may fit Mr. Desormeaux extremely well or not well at all.
Can anyone offer any insight into this controversy? Beyond the paragraph above, I have no opinion here because I'm simply not qualified. You might say I "have no horse in this race".
Well now, having spent way to much time on top of a ladder trimming back some out of control foliage resulting from the onslaught of rain we’ve been having here; I’m feeling achy and cranky so I’ll weigh in on this one even though I know squat about horse racing (which shouldn’t be a surprise to any of this wonderful fellowship of commentators).
Big Brown, I believe, is owned by a group of Wall Street investor types who may have never even smelled a horse before they invested in him. They had already earned a huge return on their investment as a result of his first two wins. Didn’t they get $50M for his stud service? I don’t believe they wanted to risk any type injury to their investment and his real money making potential so they ran a very conservative race. If he wasn’t walking away with a win, then just pull him up so he doesn’t get hurt.
I’m sure racing enthusiasts are sorely disappointed. Even though I’m not a huge fan, it sure would have been a morale booster to see everyone rallying around a Triple Crown Winner. But the bright side of all this, Big Brown has a pretty good retirement package in front of him, with a lot of perks. I hope he’s able to enjoy it. He surely already earned it.
Spinner said...
Yea, and I bet you guys would like a retirement job like his...! Even though I spent years working for the equine industry, I was secluded in a lab and have no idea about the training aspect. But I truely do think that the jockey is very much on the up and up. If he threw the race, how could he ever get another ride? No, I think Big Brown simply said, "Nope. That's enough and I quit". But what do I know. I did expound on Eight Bells and her injury because I was in the genetics part of the industry and there I did have an opinion because I think the industry is only interested in how fast these horses can sprint for relatively short distances and have ended breeding for way too fragile lower front legs. But that is a horse of a different color...or sex...or story.
elizabeth miller said...
I'm not good on the computer, but I love your clothes. I've been hours getting signed up & registered, but I'm not sure I'm there. Waiting for the catalogue.
eliz miller
Gia said...
You can analyze this to death but since Big Brown can't tell us personally,
at a certain point we just have to let go.
. . . . unless of course he's the famous Mr. Ed. I'm hearing the boos already.
SSJ: Dern, I wish I had said that! (or Francis the Mule)
Thank you, Spinner. I kinda got that feeling too. And you obviously know more than I do on this point. Indeed, should the jockey worry about any stigma following him even at no fault of his own? Between his (presumed?) affection for the horse and his devotion to the sport, he must feel awful. And if ugly rumors (regardless of how potentially untrue) reached me, the must surely have reached people in the business as well. I would hate to see this become the story of an honest jockey's life. Let us hope all will be well.