Will Big Brown 'Drive' to Meet Curlin ?
It seems that the majority of common, everyday race fans are ready to see another Triple Crown. People want to feel the excitement and thrill of a sport unmatched in displaying talent and skill.
Some people don't like Big Brown's trainer, owners, or the horses he is competing against.
In Big Brown's defense, it is not the horse's fault that he is racing against "lesser" competition in some eyes. He has handled everything thrown his way, so I say let him gain what he has earned. The trainer isn't racing him. Jockey Kent Desormeaux has stated many times he hasn't had to really ride the horse, just ease him on or slow him down at different points in the race. Big Brown is the one racing.
With that being said, I am personally a larger fan of Denis of Cork, Colonel Jon, Pyro, and Z Fortune. Even though they have not beaten Big Brown, they have been impressive this year. You can compare earnings, and I don't think you can take anything away from their statements on the track. I say that due to how well these four favorite 3-year-olds of mine have raced up to the Derby. We will see a lot more from most of them. Pyro might have peaked, but I was overcome with chills from the turn-of-foot he showed.
No matter what the argument against him is, at the end of the day Big Brown is the one racing, not his connections.
"He's one of the most impressive horses we've seen in a long, long time," trainer Kenny McPeek said. "Maybe it's a weaker 3-year-old crop, but who's to know that? He's a really special horse. If he wins the next one, which I do think he'll win and I think he'll win it for fun, you put him in the category of Secretariat and Seattle Slew." -- From Pimlico Preakness Notes on BloodHorse.com
I think trainer Nick Zito stated some good points Saturday, and I think Jason Shandler reiterated them as well. Big Brown looks good on paper, but the race is not run on paper, it is run on surface... meaning that Big Brown still has to beat the competition in the race.
The REAL Question:
Everyone wants to know how big and bad Big Brown truly is. Let's see him race Curlin. Curlin has proven himself to be great, while Big Brown has some proving to do still. This will be the greatest thing that could happen in the industry at the present time. To see a thrilling race of the new kid on the block and the ruling authority on the track. Don't retire Big Brown, though money seems to be a bigger deal here, because the fans want to see this battle waged.
Another key point is for the common race fans. About half of Generation X and all of Generation Y have never seen or can not remember a Triple Crown winner. That is a big deal and another reason why it is exciting. Thirty plus years is a very long time.
The Big Time:
Aside from the common horse fan wanting a Triple Crown, I appreciate that Casino Drive is also trying to achieve a record. His dam, Better Than Honour, has produced the last two Belmont winners. A dam who could possibly have three Belmont winners and consecutively? That is beyond impressive; that is beyond amazing. That is down right ridiculous, but it is going to be a very real possibility. It is also a record that I am quite confident could not be beaten.
Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow, is also aware of what Japan-based Casino Drive hopes to accomplish, "The Japanese people are going to come here and think that Godzilla is dead. Well, Godzilla's not dead," Dutrow said at the Preakness press conference.
So which will be the big bet you take on? Do we want a Triple Crown that other horses can claim, or a moment in history, not to be repeated? It is tough, but I believe once the story is spread beyond the die hard fans of Casino Drive, more people would understand the scope of that endeavor.
What do I want to see? I want to see Casino Drive win the Belmont if the horse industry will tell the story and make an effort to describe the enormity of Better Than Honour's record. If the public is not educated about this historic possibility, then we need to have at least a Triple Crown winner through Big Brown.
Ultimately, either way, we need to see what Big Brown is made of. He needs to meet Curlin. He needs to pay his respects.
bloodhorse.com
Ky. Derby Aftermath: Final Thoughts
The 134th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), also known as The Brown Derby, was such a mixed bag of emotions, observations, and conclusions, there is no way to analyze it in the normal manner or find a proper place for it in the history books.
There is nothing that can be said here about the Eight Belles tragedy that hasn't been said already. As legendary turf writer Joe Hirsch said after the race, it was a sad day for racing on two counts: the loss of Eight Belles and having a sensational performance by an extraordinary horse overshadowed by what is believed to be the first fatality in Derby history. Even Eight Belles' courageous performance was obscured by her death and its volatile aftermath. And lost among all the PETA nonsense is the fact that trainer Larry Jones and owner Rick Porter have finished second in back-to-back Kentucky Derbys.
Yes, PETA will no doubt continue protesting the incident, but people in racing, as well as casual followers of the sport, must accept the fact that the organization's actions, not just in this instance, are often based on ignorance. PETA began as a well-intentioned organization, and any lover of animals had to embrace their cause. Animals need protection and the louder the voice to accomplish that the better. But to compare horse racing to cock fighting and dog fighting demonstrates how far PETA has descended. In a country with numerous radical organizations, it's a shame PETA had to go that route. It seems the organization now feeds on misfortune in order to stage a demonstration or file law suits, or even worse. Could PETA actually be hoping for another catastrophe in the Preakness just to prove their point? You can draw your own conclusions.
If they bothered to do their homework and joined together with Thoroughbred racing in its never-ending quest to provide the ultimate in safety for the horses, they could accomplish a lot more, and be of assistance to an industry with a $102-billion impact on the U.S. economy and which pays $1.9 billion in taxes to all levels of the government, It also provides income for 4.6 million Americans, 460,000 of whom are full-time employees. So, when PETA calls for racing to be banned, do they actually consider that rational or have they become such a fanatical organization that the millions of people who devote their lives to horses and Thoroughbred racing mean so little to them?
There is a graph in today's Wall Street Journal that reads: "But the injury to Eight Belles, who placed second at the Derby, appears to have a genetic component. Both Barbaro and Eight Belles were descendants of Native Dancer, a 1950s thoroughbred whose racing career was cut short by leg injuries. This bloodline has an excellent track record of producing champions, but has been cited by breeders and equine experts for producing fragile horses."
Other than the fact that Native Dancer raced through May of his 4-year-old campaign, the vast majority of horses today have Native Dancer somewhere in their pedigree, thus making that comment yet another born of ignorance. Singling Barbaro and Eight Belles out in such a manner is like saying that Hitler and Attila the Hun were evil because they descended from Cain.
But enough of PETA, protests, and poppycock. As tragic as Eight Belles' death was, it shouldn't diminish the performance by an undefeated horse who has defied so much logic he could very well be on the threshold of greatness. He, obviously, is not there yet with only four starts, and one defeat can quickly bring him back among the mortals. But so far, he looks to be a horse unlike any we've seen in a long time. Dare we mention him in the same breath as Spectacular Bid, but if there is one comparison that can be made with The Bid at this infantile stage of his career it's that he appears to have no flaws and can beat you from anywhere in any manner. As of now, no one has been able to come close to him. What will happen when or if one does look him in the eye? That's something we have no way of knowing.
And we must also question the caliber of horses he's been facing. Whether he is as remarkable a horse as he appears or just so much faster than his opponents on this year's Triple Crown trail we'll have to wait to find out. There will be a new group of shooters taking aim at him in the Preakness, several with tremendous potential in their own right. Another victory in Baltimore and this gifted colt will begin his ascent up Mt. Olympus.
If he does get past the Preakness, can a son of Boundary actually win the Belmont Stakes (gr. I)?
So far, Big Brown has even defied his pedigree. Boundary was a sprinter as a racehorse and a sire of sprinters and milers. But he is inbred to Damascus and Round Table and also to the top-class English-bred mare Rough Shod. Having already won at 10 furlongs, can he continue to stretch out to 1 1/2 miles? Sometimes, there is more to staying power than stamina.
Several weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby, we received a phone call from Marianna Haun, who has studied Thoroughbred genetics for the past 15 years and has been working with Dr. Fred Fregin, who's been measuring horses' hearts for 40 years. Haun's second book is about to published, titled, "The X Factor: Solving the Mystery of Secretariat's Heart."
Haun called to say that Big Brown has inherited his broodmare sire Nureyev's heart, one of the most superior she's ever come across, and she had no doubt he would easily get the mile and a quarter of the Derby.
"My work began because of my quest to understand the amazing heart found in Secretariat at his autopsy," she said following the Derby. "When I saw Big Brown, I recognized the similarity or family resemblance in him to horses expressing the Nureyev X chromosome. In measuring thousands of horses, we have learned to recognize family characteristics that travel with certain heartlines. We had identified this Nureyev X with its family resemblance and the extraordinary heart in his daughter Miesque and her sons. Big Brown bears a strong resemblance to Miesque and to Nureyev. This indicates that his dam, Mien, gave him the X chromosome she inherited from her sire. He is inbred to the Northern Dancer line which carries both speed and power from both his sire and dam. When the genetic spin of the wheel gives you those elements, combined with a heart the size of Secretariat, the results of the Kentucky Derby are not surprising.
"When we measured Miesque's son, Kitalpha, we found the largest heart Dr. Fregin has seen in more than 40 years of measuring. It was the same size as Secretariat's. Kitalpha bears a very close resemblance to his dam, Nureyev, and to Big Brown. So we know that the extraordinary heart of Nureyev is beating in Big Brown."
Make of this what you wish, but any keys that can possibly unlock the mysteries of Big Brown are welcome.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Dutrow 'all in' with bet on Derby
Well, we know one thing about Richard Dutrow Jr., the trainer of Big Brown: he likes to gamble.
There is a saying, sort of a code, Dutrow uses when the big bet is coming and, rest assured, the big bet is coming in Saturday's 134th running of the Kentucky Derby.
All in.
That's what Dutrow and his pals say when the big play is about to be made. And it will be put on the nose of Big Brown.
"We're going to be all in," Dutrow said by phone from Florida last week. "We're all in and we can't wait to bet. This is a horse playing barn, we're players."
So, all in is a little bet?
Dutrow laughs.
"It's the wallet," Dutrow said and laughed some more.
Team Dutrow will bet big on Big Brown, the lightly raced colt who has looked spectacular in his three career starts, winning by a combined 29 lengths.
In his past start, the Florida Derby on March 29, Big Brown drew a lousy post (10) but still laughed at the field, winning by five lengths.
Dutrow and Big Brown traveled from Florida to Kentucky on Monday. Nothing has changed in Dutrow's mind about the outcome of the most famous horse race in America. Big Brown is going to win and he might win big.
"I am confident, I just don't see how he can be beat," Dutrow said. "How can you not be confident in him. No one comes close to his Beyer (speed) figures. If you watch him run, you see no one comes close to him. How can you not be confident?"
There are some things Big Brown will have to figure out. One is the new surface at Churchill Downs. The only tracks the son of Boundary has ever run on are Saratoga on turf (the only start of his 2-year-old year) and Gulfstream Park twice this year.
Like everyone else in the Derby, Big Brown will be trying the 1 1/4-mile distance for the first time.
"He's in the same boat as everyone else," Dutrow said. "The 1 1/4 miles doesn't bother me in the least but it's still something he hasn't done. But I think someone else is going to have to want to go 1 1/4 miles to beat him. As long as things go his way, he should win."
Now that could be the problem. In a 20-horse field, there are pockets of potential problems. A horse can get blocked, he can get squeezed, he can have dirt kicked in his face.
Dutrow knows that but he also knows his horse. When the gates swing open Saturday, Dutrow says that will be the most important part of the Derby. A clean break by Big Brown and he sees a big day.
"In the first 10 jumps, we might have 15 of them beat," Dutrow said.
When Dutrow won the 2005 Breeders' Cup Classic with Saint Liam at Belmont Park (he was all in on that one), he threw a huge party on Long Island. Then-Yankee manager Joe Torre showed up and Bruce Springsteen's sax man, Clarence Clemons, was blowing his horn.
If Big Brown wins the Derby, Dutrow promises another party. At his home on Long Island. After the Belmont Stakes.
The plan is that after winning the Derby, Big Brown will go to Baltimore, win the Preakness, and then claim the Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont.
If that were to be the case, it would be the sport's first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
And Dutrow will be all in on every race.
All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2008, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y.
And We’re Off …
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - "Come and pet him," Rick Dutrow commanded the other morning as Big Brown nuzzled his nose into his trainer's shoulder. "Really, he's one of the neatest horses I've ever been around."
I stepped into his stall, reached and asked the strapping bay, "Are you the Kentucky Derby winner?"
Big Brown turned, lifted his head and nodded in the affirmative. Don't believe me? Ask Dutrow, who had just finished telling me that he was making a big bet on his colt on the First Saturday in May.
It was the kind of moment that turns horseplayers into horse lovers. It makes you forget that Big Brown has made only three starts, has tender feet and is trying to become the first horse since the filly Regret in 1915 to win the Derby with such little experience. Bet him with both hands?
Many are going to face that decision about Big Brown or others over the next six weeks - first in the Derby, then the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. The Rail, The New York Times's horse racing blog, intends to inform those decisions as well as entertain throughout the race for the Triple Crown.
Hunches and historic data, analysis and news, and an emphasis on the stories behind the horses will be part of our mix. Horse racing is a democratic sport, and it attracts an eclectic mix of devotees. The Rail's regular contributors fit that description.
Alex Brown has an M.B.A., is an exercise rider for Steve Asmussen and is passionate about the welfare of horses. His posts will be about all three.
Jim Squires was formerly the editor of the Chicago Tribune, but now breeds thoroughbreds, including the 2001 Derby winner Monarchos.
The Rail also will feature expert handicappers from across the country, including from Daily Racing Form, and will link to trade papers and bloggers who find the next six weeks the best of the whole year.
Times reporters and editors will also contribute. When horses talk, we'll be there to listen.
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
Pyro on smooth ride to Kentucky Derby
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Thoroughbred trainer Steve Asmussen hopes his 3-year-old "Pyro" can do something 2007's Horse of the Year could not - win the Kentucky Derby.
Asmussen also trained "Curlin," who was able to win the Preakness Stakes, and Breeders' Cup Classic in 2007.
Asmussen says Pyro has developed and matured nicely. The colt has built a reputation for stunning finishes. Pyro came from behind to win the Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby.
He is expected to be the favorite in the Blue Grass Stakes Saturday on Keeneland's Polytrack. A win would make him 1 of the favorites to take the Derby on May third at Churchill Downs.
Asmussen says, so far, the horse hasn't run a race good enough to win the Derby but he thinks Pyro is in position to move forward.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Obscure horse looking for history
OKLAHOMA CITY - What started as a gesture of kindness by a Texas cattle rancher toward a teenager has turned into a quest to match one of racing’s greatest winning streaks.
The rancher, Jimmy Maddux, and the teenager-turned-trainer, Brandon Parum, plan to be at Remington Park on Thursday night as Maddux's 5-year-old Oklahoma-bred paint horse, Got Country Grip, goes for his 16th win in as many career starts.
Should Got Country Grip win the $15,000, 350-yard allowance race for paints and appaloosas, he will match the modern North American all-breeds record of 16 straight wins, held by four thoroughbreds, including a pair of racing legends, Citation and Cigar.
"I've been riding for 22 years and have never been a part of anything like this," said Got Country Grip's regular jockey, G.R. Carter. "This is something special, a once-in-a-career type of thing."
Maddux admits that before he met Parum in 1996, he was a racing novice.
"I'd been to one race in my whole life," the 60-year-old Maddux said.
But there was something about Parum that made Maddux believe in him. The two met in the mid-1990s, when Parum's family operated a feed store not far from Maddux's ranch near Weatherford, Texas. When Maddux went to buy feed, he also looked at the paint horses Parum's father trained.
Maddux soon offered the teen a winter job on his ranch, feeding cattle.
"He got to telling me a story," Maddux recalled. "He had found a couple of horses he wanted to buy. I had never owned a horse in my life."
So the rancher asked Parum what kind of horse it was and how much it would cost. Maddux paid $9,500 for two paint horses from Oklahoma breeder Linda Fox and told Parum he could train them.
One of the horses, Royal Dash, won 5 of 7 races before suffering an aneurism and being euthanized. The other was a filly named I Want To Dance, but she didn't enjoy nearly as much success. Soon, Fox asked Maddux if he'd swap I Want To Dance for another horse.
The first time Maddux saw the colt for which he traded, he wasn't impressed.
"He was sickly looking and snotty-nosed," Maddux recalled. "There was a 40 mph wind and snow on the ground, and I thought, 'What have I done?' He looked rough."
But soon enough, Got Country Grip began blossoming physically. Parum, by then operating in Oklahoma, came to pick up the horse at Maddux's ranch and marveled at his growth.
The breaking process didn't start smoothly, as the horse jumped over a 6-foot fence surrounding a pen. But Got Country Grip's talent soon began showing, said Carter, who helped Parum break the horse.
"I told (Parum), 'You can get rid of all the rest of them and keep this one.' It was obvious from the beginning that he was really a great horse," Carter said. "But no one could predict the kind of success he’s had."
Paint-horse racing, much like quarter horse racing, consists mainly of straightaway sprints, leaving little margin for error. A slow start - or any other minor mishap - usually dooms a horse to also-ran status.
But in a sport in which wins are measured in fractions of lengths and tenths or hundredths of a second, Got Country Grip has dominated. His two most recent wins came by 3 lengths and 1 3-4 lengths.
(c) 2008 The Saratogian - a Journal Register Property. All Rights reserved.
Adriano dominates Lane's End
Courtlandt Farms' homebred ADRIANO (A.P. Indy) effortlessly took command at the top of the lane and cruised home a facile 2 1/2-length winner of the $500,000 Lane's End S. (G2) at Turfway Park on Saturday. Always prominent under Edgar Prado, the Graham Motion trainee finished off nine furlongs over the Polytrack in 1:50 1/5 as the nearly 5-1 third choice. Adriano returned $11.60, $6.40 and $4.60 while keying the $46.80 exacta, $321.60 trifecta and $1,858.80 superfecta (5-8-12-6).
Duke of de Buque (Dixie Union) and Rich Young Ruler (Victory Gallop) sped in tandem to the front early and dueled through splits of :23 and :47, with the latter dispatching of Duke of de Buque when reaching the six-furlong mark in 1:12 2/5. Adriano, who traveled four-wide early, began to make his move approaching the final turn on the outside and easily blew by Rich Young Ruler, eventually reaching a mile in 1:37 4/5 while never being challenged late. Halo Najib (Halo's Image) advanced while wide entering the the stretch and did well to outkick Medjool (Monarchos) for the place, paying $5.40 and $4 as the 3-1 favorite. Medjool was sent off at 7-1 and gave back $4.80 another three-quarters of a length back.
"I thought he was extremely impressive," Motion said. "We had to stay a little closer (to the pace) because you didn't want to come from off the pace today. I thought that played right into our hands, because I know at that pace he can go all day."
Racecar Rhapsody (Tale of the Cat), who was well back early, made up a lot of ground with a big middle move along the rail but flattened some in the stretch and could only muster fourth on this day. The colt capped the superfecta as the 7-2 second choice, and finished 2 3/4 lengths clear of Chitoz (Forest Wildcat), who was trailed by Cannonball (Catienus), Macho Again (Macho Uno), Turf War (Dixie Union), El Aleman (Point Given), Rich Young Ruler and Duke of de Buque. Halo's King (Halo's Image) was withdrawn.
Adriano earned his first stakes win in this one, boosting his earnings to $394,100 from a 7-3-1-0 lifetime mark. The chestnut broke his maiden in his second career start and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Futurity (G1). The colt concluded his freshman campaign when fifth in the Laurel Futurity on the turf, but began his juvenile season in a big way when streaking home a 6 3/4-length winner in a grass allowance at Gulfstream. Most recently in his first appearance on dirt, the Kentucky-bred never factored in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2).
"I know if horses handle the turf well, they will handle the Polytrack," Prado explained. "He put me in a great position at the eighth pole and every time I called on him, he responded."
Motion didn't consider Adriano to be a Kentucky Derby (G1) candidate entering the Lane's End, but the colt's impressive showing will force him to reconsider.
"The horse showed that on his day he can be brilliant," Motion said regarding the Kentucky Derby. "I think we all agree that he's probably more of a turf horse, but the Lexington (G2) (at Keeneland on April 19) is something we will definitely consider. I thought (one) key was that he was very good in the paddock. He's very hot-blooded. In the Fountain of Youth, he kind of fell apart (before the race) that day. The fact that he was good today made a big difference."
The winner is out of the winning Gold Canyon (Mr. Prospector) and has a two-year-old half-sister named Gold d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) and an unnamed yearling full sister. His second dam, Golden Treat (Theatrical [Ire]), captured the 1992 Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and produced the stakes-winning Double Scoop (Seeking the Gold). This is the same female family as 1987 Belmont S. (G1), Haskell Invitational H. (G1) and Fountain of Youth S. (G2) star Bet Twice (Sportin' Life), who finished second in that year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness S. (G1).
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