Media begins to Question the Steroids Impact
The inevitable questions have begun to spring up around the web regarding the impact that steroids had on Big Brown's earlier success and his lack of success without them. Horses coming off of steroids sometimes have a negative reaction. Is he a super horse who was helped only minimally by the steroids, but made less of a horse on the withdrawal? Some are saying that he was never a super horse at all. Why did Dutrow take him off of the steroids if it was legal in New York? Will the NTRA follow through on President Alex Waldrop's claim that steroids will be banned in all American Racing by the end of the year?
New York Times - William C. Rhoden: Wondering if Steroids Fueled a Run At Glory
He blew away the field at the Kentucky Derby. He made the Preakness field look like circus ponies. But on the day that would solidify his legacy and give racing a respite from intense scrutiny, Big Brown crumbled. He crumbled so badly that one could legitimately wonder whether he was nothing but a chemical horse, a paper tiger propped up — and propelled — by steroids. After three months of dominance, Big Brown became the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish dead last at the Belmont Stakes. His jockey, Kent Desormeaux, said that heading into the final turn, when he called on Big Brown to give him that special reserve, he realized, “I had no horse.”.The racing public has the right to ask: Did he ever have a super horse?....more
Panama City News Herald - Josh Weinfuss: Local vet: Lack of steroids may have been factor for Big Brown
"They took him off of steroids and that caused the problem," Alker said. "If you get a horse used to those for their recovery, the benefits that provides for muscles and the things that steroids do for them, and you take it off of it there is a letdown. "And even though the horse wasn't on an abusive dose of steroids, it could have still caused an effect that was certainly detrimental to them."...more
