Big Brown Triple Crown . com

It appears that the Preakness field may end up soft after many of his Derby opponents' connections announced they were not interested in facing him again in the Preakness.

Blood-Horse - Ron Mitchell: The Morning After: Big Brown Scare Off

....Interviews with losing trainers and their connections the morning after the Derby revealed deep respect for the winner and no desire to face him again soon......more

Big Brown has notched the first victory of the elusive Triple Crown with a convincing 4 3/4 length Kentucky Derby win. The win was worth $1,451,800 in earnings, helping him eclipse the $2 million mark in just his 4th career start. He was wide and clear for most of the race. Heading into the final turn, Big Brown got into gear and pulled away easily.



Blood-Horse - Dan Liebman: Big Brown Delivers; Filly Breaks Down

United Parcel Service has never made a delivery like Big Brown delivered May 3 at Churchill Downs, romping home by nearly five lengths to remain unbeaten in four starts with a scintillating win in the $2,211,800 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).....more

In his final workout before the Kentucky Derby, Big Brown breezed three furlongs in :35 2/5 at Churchill Downs. It was the best workout of 19 on the day at that distance.

This outstanding spotlight with videos and interviews was posted on the Kentucky Derby YouTube Channel (with Michelle Yu hosting):




Raw footage here:



Blood-Horse - Claire Novak: Big Brown Gets Easy Work at Churchill

....Big Brown, installed as the 3-1 morning line choice following the April 30 post position draw, went three-eighths in :35 2/5. "It looked good to me," Dutrow said. "I watched from the frontside and I'm as happy as I could be. I could see when he turned around with the pony right away he was a little too agressive, which you could expect, I think......more

Big Brown's connections had the 16th choice out of 20 to decide where they would want to start the Kentucky Derby. They chose once again to be in the far outside. Big Brown won the Florida Derby from the far outside post and Dutrow confidently pointed out that he knew as long as there was no trouble his horse could win. He agian commented that he would prefer to break from the outside to help assure a clean trip.

Interviews with Big Brown's connections from KentuckyDerby.com at the start of this video



Blood-Horse - Ron Mitchell: Favorite to Break from Post Position 20

....Based on a draw conducted earlier in the day to determine order in which post positions would be selected, Big Brown’s owners and trainer had the 16th draw out of the 20 starting positions. “We prefer just to break on the outside,” said Richard Dutrow, Jr......more

Kent Desormeaux gives his thoughts on how he will run the Kentucky Derby on NTRA.com:

Dutrow announced that they put him in the gate at Churchill on the morning of the 30th and he galloped around one time. The plan is to breeze him 3/8 of a mile on May 1st, hoping for him to run it between :36 and :37. Dutrow continued to praise his horse calling him a "pleasure to be around" and "a dream come true."

Blood-Horse - Esther Marr: ARTICLE TITLE

....“We put him in the gate (this morning), and he was very good,” said Dutrow. “He just galloped around one time, and we couldn’t be happier with things at this point.”.....“We’ll breeze him three-eighths (of a mile) tomorrow (May 1) after the break,” said Dutrow. “I’d like him to go anywhere between :36 and :37....more

Big Brown had another unofficial work today at Churchill Downs with exercise rider Michelle Nevin aboard. Here is the video:

Blood-Horse - Steve Haskin: Ky. Derby Trail: Hot Brown on Derby Menu

....How many times do you think the word “freak” has been uttered since Saturday? Well, there is no doubt that the colt has accomplished freakish things in his brief career, but so did Curlin, and he couldn’t win the Derby off three career starts......more

Big Brown had an unofficial work today at Churchill Downs with exercise rider Michelle Nevin aboard. Here is the video:

Big Brown arrived today at Churchill Downs. Everything went according to plans for all involved. Watch the video from The Kentucy Derby YouTube Channel:



Blood-Horse - Claire Novak: Brown In Town

....Big Brown shipped into Churchill Downs April 28, exhibiting the same ease with which he earned his latest five-length victory. Now, with just five days remaining until the running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), trainer Rick Dutrow’s main concern is keeping the unbeaten son of Boundary out of trouble and in good condition.....more

Jill Byrne gives her analysis of Big Brown talking about the sneaky breeding and his inexperience (comparing him to Curlin). Just as a bonus, you can watch the Florida Derby again after her analysis:

Blood-Horse: Big Brown Fine, Smooth Air to KY Derby

Despite suffering from a case of laryngitis and unable to speak much, trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said that Florida Derby (gr. I) runaway winner Big Brown came out of the March 29 event in good shape. Dutrow said the undefeated son of Boundary was doing well back at his Palm Meadows Training Center barn March 30 and his Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum Brands (gr. I) preparation plans would be solidified later in the week. .....more

Affirmed wins the Kentucky Derby.

About.com: Affirmed vs. Alydar

1978 Kentucky Derby chart notes: AFFIRMED away alertly but held in reserve for six furlongs, moved up boldly along outside thereafter to take command on second turn, relinquished the lead momentarily a quarter mile out but responded to a rousing ride to regain command in upper stretch and was fully extended to hold ALYDAR safe. The latter, under snug restraint early, commenced to advance from the outside after six furlongs, continued wide in the stretch, swerved to bump with BELIEVE IT in closing sixteenth and finished strongly when straightened. .....more

Undefeated Seattle Slew wins the Kentucky Derby.

SeattleSlew.com: 103rd Kentucky Derby

....Slew drew off by 4 lengths in mid-stretch. He was eased the final sixteenth of a mile and finished 1 and ¾ lengths ahead of Run Dusty Run. Sanhedrin would finish third. "Seattle Slew was the most deserving winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby," declared the late Louisville newspaperman Mike Barry, who was present for all but four of the Churchill Downs classic races from 1922 through 1991. "In all the Derbies I've seen, I never saw a horse have as much trouble as Seattle Slew had and still win the race."......more

Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby.

CNNSI - Whitney Tower: It was Murder

....Before the largest crowd to see a horse race in this country (a squirming, screaming and sweating 134,476), Secretariat threw a 23-second final quarter at his "grudge" rival Sham and won the 99th Kentucky Derby in the track-record time of 1:59 2/5. Crossing the finish line, the magnificent chestnut drew a roar of approval.......more

As Secretariat passed Sham in the stretch, thousands screamed their lungs out at the track, and millions more TV viewers cheered at home. Radio man Cawood Ledford called the race on a national radio network, reaching around the world through the United States Armed Forces Radio. He chanted the simple words that The Big Red Horse¹s millions of fans were waiting to hear: "It's SECRETARIAT! And he's got his Kentucky Derby!"......more