Welcome to Big Brown Triple Crown . com, where you will find information, videos, commentaries, articles and other tidbits relating to Big Brown and Horse Racing's Triple Crown. Use the links down the right side to navigate through the content. If you have a comment, feedback, or something to add, contact us at BigBrownTripleCrown@gmail.com. Have a look around, Get Daily Updates in your Email, fall in love with this great horse and sport, spread the word about Big Brown and enjoy his Triple Crown run.
Showing posts with label Richard Dutrow Jr.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Dutrow Jr.. Show all posts
Big Brown worked out early this morning, breezing five furlongs in 1:06 3/5 at Aqueduct. It was his first workout in nearly a month. Richard Dutrow was not concerned with the slow time, announcing that he had told exercise rider Michelle Nevin that slow was better than fast. He says the "horse looks fine."
Big Brown returned to the track July 2 for his first 'breeze' since being pulled up in the June 7 Belmont Stakes (gr. I). The move was extremely slow, but apparently the five-furlong move in a dawdling 1:06 3/5 at Aqueduct did not concern Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr. Under exercise rider Michelle Nevin, Big Brown worked over the main track at 5:50 a.m. The track was fast, and the weather was sunny with temperatures in the 70s. “Nice easy breeze,” Dutrow said about 20 minutes after the work. “Well, I told Michelle I didn’t want him to go too fast. I would rather go slower than faster. So, the horse looks like he is fine. I can’t tell you we got any problems, you know. So far, so good.”.....more
Today, Jockey Kent Desormeaux visited Trainer Richard Dutrows barn at Aqueduct race track and they spoke for the first time since the Belmont loss. br>New York Newsday - Jerry Bossert: Rick Dutrow, Kent Desormeaux back in saddle after meeting
...."Look, (owner) Mike Iavarone named Desormeaux. So it's up to Mike," Dutrow said. "If it's up to me, I'd leave him on. Yes. But it's not up to me." Iavarone has said that Desormeaux will ride Big Brown in the colt's next start. That could be the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth on Aug.3 or the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug.23. Desormeaux met with Dutrow at Aqueduct, where Dutrow's barn is located. "He came over this morning," Dutrow said. "I didn't get too much involved with that (the Belmont). No. Just about the future and what we got to do to get there." .....more
Michael Iavarone announced on Tuesday that Kent Desormeaux would ride Big Brown in his next race. It was Iavarone who originally chose Desormeaux, despite Trainer Richard Dutrow's desired to go with Edgar Prado. Richard Dutrow, who blamed Kent Desormeaux for the Belmont Stakes defeat, took the chance to again say that he would have chosen Prado and that the choice of Desormeaux was always that of Iavarone.
Already planning ahead for Big Brown’s next race, members of his team said Tuesday that they planned to stick with their regular rider, Kent Desormeaux, and resume the colt’s monthly treatments of Winstrol......more
Trainer Richard Dutrow announced that Big Brown will be going back on steroids with a shot this weekend. However, he still contends that he doesn't need the steroids and the issue of steroids had nothing to do with his Belmont Stakes performance.
Big Brown is going back on the juice. Just days after an attempt to become the first horse in 30 years to win American racing's Triple Crown ended in disappointment and confusion, the colt's controversial trainer says he will give him a steroid shot this weekend. Rick Dutrow Jr., who made much of his decision to discontinue the use of the steroid Winstrol after a shot in mid-April, told the New York Times he would go back on the regime even though the trainer doesn't believe it makes any difference......more
Richard Dutrow has finally spoken publicly and is now questioning the ride of Kent Desormeaux. Big Brown was shipped to Dutrow's barn at Aqueduct Race Track on Monday morning and the trainer spoke about the possibility that the way that the horse and jockey interacted going into the first turn cost Big Brown the chance to win the Triple Crown. Desormeaux and Dutrow have still not spoken since the race. At the start of the first turn, Desormeaux took a hard hold of Big Brown and yanked him to the outside. At that point he bumped with Anak Nakal and then found some running room outside of Tale of Ekati. All the while, eventual wire-to-wire winner Da' Tara was opening up a three-length lead around the clubhouse turn. Dutrow thinks that Desormeaux may have confused the horse saying that Big Brown probably had no idea what was happening getting switched all over the track like that. Desormeaux revealed Monday that his plan was go to the lead, but that Big Brown slipped coming out of the gate and that he was pinched back. Desormeaux commented after the race that he "had no horse" and that he could not second guess this ride the way he had second guessed his ride on Real Quiet ten years ago when that horse lost by a nose in his pursuit of the Triple Crown. Kent Desormeaux told Wallace Matthews of New York Newsday that the track was too soft. Michael Iavarone had also blamed the track because of an apparent water problem that they had at the track, but Belmont park confirms that the track was watered as normal.
"I got people calling me from all over the world telling me I ran a sore horse in the race, the jock had to pull him up," Dutrow said as he stood in his Aqueduct barn's shed row waiting for Big Brown's van. "I don't know why he had to do that. If he felt the horse was sore, yeah, but the horse was fighting him the whole way through the lane and he was fighting the horse the whole way up till the lane. I just don't get the whole thing.".....more
Iavarone said Big Brown never got a hold of Belmont’s dried-out track. He pointed to the performance of the I.E.A.H.-owned sprinter Benny the Bull, who won the six-furlong Grade II True North Handicap by a desperate neck in 1 minute 9.06 seconds on Saturday, relatively slow.......more
Just a few hours after the devastating loss in the Belmont Stakes, Richard Dutrow is searching for what may have gone wrong. Big Brown was checked out and appears to be physically "fine". Dutrow was clearly disappointed, but still proud of Big Brown and his accomplishments. It appears that we may know in 24 hours whther or not he will be retired or if he will race again.
"The horse kind of looks like he's fine to me, so the only thing I know is to wait and see how things go," Dutrow said, adding that Big Brown will be scoped to see if there were any health issues. "Right now, I don't see him being off; he may be off tomorrow.".....more
Forecasts are for temperatures possibly reaching 90 degrees tomorrow at Belmont Park in what would be the hottest day so far this year. John Lee, Director of Media Relations for the NYRA says that the track is prepared. Heat definitely affects race horses and could be a factor, but Big Brown Trainer Richard Dutrow said yesterday that heat will not be a factor for his horse.
....Like humans, horses perspire in sultry weather, and their sweat often looks like shaving cream on their necks and between their legs. Although sweating is normal, handicappers avoid betting horses dripping with perspiration, which saps their energy and makes them perform below par. A few days after the Preakness, trainer Rick Dutrow said Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown is a fresh horse because he's raced only five times in his career and hasn't run or trained in extreme heat this year. "I can't imagine [heat] being a factor; none whatsoever," Dutrow said yesterday. "Not for our horse. I don't know about the other horses."more
Big Brown's quest to become the first Triple Crown winner in three decades will not be affected by the stifling heat predicted for Saturday's Belmont Stakes, the colt's trainer said Thursday. Temperatures for the highly anticipated $1 million race were expected to top the 90-degree (32 Celsius) mark. "I can't imagine (the heat) being a factor. None whatsoever," trainer Richard Dutrow, Jr. told reporters. "Not for our horse. I don't know about the other horses.".....more
After all of the waiting, the Belmont Stakes is just one day away, but Big Brown has a full day ahead of him. Friday, he is scheduled to gallop on the Belmont track some time after the 8:45 am break and then will have his hoof patched sometime in the afternoon. According to trainer Richard Dutrow, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay will apply the patch some time in the afternoon when "you guys (the press) ain't around".
....Big Brown is scheduled to gallop June 6, probably after the break at 8:45 a.m., according to Dutrow. Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay will patch the quarter crack on Big Brown’s left front foot the afternoon of June 6. Dutrow said the quarter crack is “dry. We could run him the way he is.” The trainer estimated it would take 45 minutes to an hour to place the patch on the foot. “As long as it looks the way it does now, we are going to patch it,” Dutrow said. “We (will do it) when there is no noise around and you guys ain’t around. We’ll take care of it then.”.....more
Thursday, Richard Dutrow said that the quarter crack was "all healed." On Friday, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay will apply an acrylic and fiberglass patch to the cracked area.
...."It's all healed," trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said Thursday. "We could run him the way he is." Not exactly. On Friday, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay will apply an acrylic and fiberglass patch to the cracked area. It sets in five minutes and is "stronger than the hoof itself," he said. That's certainly encouraging news for a sport still on edge after the death of Eight Belles on the track moments after her second-place finish at the Kentucky Derby. Even Dutrow's normally unshakable confidence was dented when he first saw the crack. "Naturally, we had to worry about it," he said.....more
Edgar Prado is part of many of the subplots of the Belmont Stakes. Namely, he will ride Casino Drive, the strongest challenger to Big Brown's victory chances. Twice (2002 and 2004) in the last six years, Prado has been aboard a long-shot Triple Crown Spoiler in the Belmont Stakes.He beat War Emblem aboard Sarava in 2002 and beat Smarty Jones as the jockey for Birdstone in 2004. The more intriguing and less frequently reported footnote for Prado is that twice he missed chances to have been Big Brown's jockey. First, in September of last year, Prado was scheduled to ride Big Brown for his debut at Saratoga, but broke his ankle in a spill two days before the race. Jeremy Rose was chosen to replace him. Then, when Richard Dutrow became trainer Prado had a chance to work Big Brown three times at the training center in Florida and it appeared Prado would get his second chance. But, Michael Iavarone of IEAH had dinner with Kent Desormeaux one evening and decided that "Kent fit the horse." Dutrow disagreed with the decision and later even said "Prado's my man." But the drama grew more in the Preakness when Prado was aboard Riley Tucker and Dutrow publicly accused him of trying to box in Big Brown. Finally, after a prolonged search process, Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive named Prado as their rider. Incentives abound for Prado to become a Triple Crown Spoiler for a third time.
Pay attention to Edgar Prado Saturday. He's the most intriguing human in the 140th running of the Belmont Stakes. He's the two-legged King of the Spoilers, a jockey who twice in this decade has climbed aboard worse horses than he'll ride in Saturday's race and nevertheless ruined someone else's Triple Crown hopes, same as he'll try to shatter heavily favored Big Brown's chances. The difference for Prado this year? This race might be personal. Prado wouldn't admit that the other day after he strode out of the winner's circle at Belmont after the second of a typically busy seven-race day for him at his home track. Nor will Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow and owner Michael Iavarone concede that Saturday's 11/2-mile test could darken into a grudge match, even if it was Iavarone who made the call to put Kent Desormeaux atop Big Brown this spring, against Dutrow's wishes and to Prado's surprise. .....more
Prado did it twice before, beating War Emblem with Sarava in 2002 and topping Smarty Jones with Birdstone in 2004. That's two of the past three Triple tries, and he did it with two long shots. This time, Prado will be riding perhaps the biggest threat to Big Brown, the 2-5 morning-line favourite, with Casino Drive the 7-2 second choice in the field of 10 3-year-olds......more
New York Times reporter Joe Drape wrote today that Richard Dutrow had not given Big Brown Steroids since April 15th. If this is the case, some experts are indicating that this would mean a win at the Belmont Stakes would be "steroids-free." Dutrow has also reduced Big Brown's dose of electrolytes.
....Gary Wadler, a New York University medical professor and antidoping expert, said that if you took Dutrow’s claims at face value, that Big Brown has not received steroids since mid-April, then it would be fair to argue that a victory in the Belmont Stakes, at least, could be considered steroid-free......more
....On the advice of Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, Dutrow also reduced Big Brown's dose of electrolytes. "The horse looks like an absolute picture so I didn't want to mess with anything, you know," Dutrow said. Greg Bennett, Dutrow's primary veterinarian, said Thursday that a sterile solution of electrolytes is given intravenously by a stomach tube......more
...When he goes out, he stands, he's surveying, he's looking to see what's going on. . . . He's very, very confident and proud of himself. When he sees the other horses in the paddock, he's just gonna fluff them off like a bunch of clowns knowing that he's got 'em in his pocket......more
Saturday, Big Brown galloped with exercise rider Michelle Nevin and his trainer Richard Dutrow's confidence incredibly seemed to grow even more. Dutrow said it was the best he has galloped since getting to New York and that Big Brown "is ready to go out and do something." The quarter crack continues to heel and all involved seem to get more and more confident in each passing day.
Seven days from his shot at immortality, Big Brown was ready to fire. The undefeated 3-year-old was unusually aggressive in his gallop yesterday for exercise rider Michelle Nevin, and his trainer said the colt senses that showtime is approaching......more
Love him or hate him, trainer Richard Dutrow has spoken up again. He has added a few more confident sentiments and has also once again made a few comments about other horses, owners and trainers. He told the media that the Triple Crown was a "foregone conclusion." He also said that Casino Drive had a "lot to prove" and not to even to depend on a second place finish from the horse. He added some comments about Smarty Jones and his connections, explaining that it was the connections poor planning that cost the horse the Triple Crown. He felt that winning the Preakness by 11 lengths took too much out of the horse and that the workout schedule before the Belmont was poorly planned. He specifically referred to a work out at Philly Park, that Smarty Jones' trainer John Servis correctly denies ever happened. Servis brushed the comments off and said that it was just "Rick being Rick". Dutrow has now directly or indirectly insulted the connections of Casino Drive, Curlin, Rags to Riches and Smarty Jones in the weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes.
...."I feel that he will do it," he said Thursday during the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's pre-Belmont conference call. "I feel like it's actually a foregone conclusion. To me, I just see the horses he's in with and I see our horse so I expect him to win this race. ...I know that when that day actually does come, and if our horse is in good shape, it will be the most exciting, thrilling moment of my life. So I just ... I know that that's coming,.....more
Big Brown was on the Belmont park track this morning. He jogged around the mile and a half track in the rain and trainer Richard Dutrow reported that he was very happy with his move and that he looked better than he did before the Preakness.
....“I guess we surprised everybody today. I think the decision to go to the track this morning was made late last night. Big Brown was just getting too aggressive in the barn. He needed to go to the track"......more
On Monday, hoof specialist Ian McKinley told the New York Times that Big Brown would be able to resume training on Tuesday, if trainer Rick Dutrow chose to do so.
....In fact, McKinlay said that Big Brown was free of pain and infection by late Monday afternoon. He said Big Brown could return to training as early as Tuesday, if Dutrow was so inclined. “His feet were ice cold late in the day, and this really doesn’t even qualify as a bump on the road,” McKinlay said in a telephone interview. .....more
Positive remarks have come out of the Big Brown camp today regarding Big Brown's recovery from the quarter crack discovered over the weekend. On Monday, a ten minute procedure was performed by specialist Ian McKinlay.
....“This morning we stopped and saw him early and a lot of heat had come out from yesterday, which is an excellent sign,” McKinlay said. “As usual, just a little bit of movement in that heel is enough to warm up the foot. As we look at him here, he is not as sensitive on the coronet band. Now, we just basically made a little trench and got him down to the wall, just about to the laminae; that’s the sensitive part of the hoof. And we put in one set of sutures, which is like stitches, made of stainless steel wire, and we drew that crack together. And probably tomorrow, he’ll be in much better shape. “Of course, Rick will check him first thing in the morning,” McKinlay added. “But everything should just keep progressing. What we’re trying to do is stabilize that heel so we can get quicker healing.”....more
....McKinlay put two stainless steel wires across the five-eighths-of-an-inch vertical crack at the back of Big Brown's left front foot. Then he drew the crack together and stitched it up. He said the horse limped for a few steps -- as Dutrow said, "Ouch, ouch, ouch," -- then was fine.....more
...."There's no way in the world that four, five, six or seven days [off ] the track is going to affect his outcome or his racing ability when he runs in the Belmont," trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said. "He's not going to get tired because he missed a few days.".....more
...The injury is common and not serious. Healing can range from a few days to a few months, depending on the severity of the crack. McKinlay says there is no infection, and Big Brown is in no pain. But no matter how well the crack heals, the big test will come when Big Brown returns to the track for a gallop and puts his full weight on the foot......more
It has been discovered and reported that Big Brown has developed a 'slight' Quarter Crack on the inside of his left front foot. Big Brown suffered two other quarter cracks in his feet over the last 8 months, but this is not as bad as those injuries that kept him sidelined for 45+ days. Trainer Rick Dutrow said that he discovered it on friday afternoon and called in specialist Ian McKinlay to treat it. Big Brown is in no discomfort and McKinlay, who has had success in similar scenarios before feels confident that Big Brown's Triple Crown Pursuit is not in jeopardy. He has been kept off the track since Friday, but Dutrow hopes and expects him to return to the track by Thursday. In an interesting comment on TVG, Simon Bray, who used to be an assistant trainer under Bill Mott, reported that Cigar dealt with similar quarter crack issues throughout his storied career. Here are the reports from around the web:
Big Brown has yet to encounter anything that can trip up his historic Triple Crown run. But that may have changed Sunday. Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. revealed that the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner is battling a quarter crack on the inside of his left front hoof that will force the colt to miss several days of training. .....more
Big Brown has a "slight" quarter crack on the inside of his left front foot, trainer Rick Dutrow said Sunday, May 25. The colt did not go to the track Saturday or Sunday......more
"If it was two weeks we would be nervous, but since we have an extra week I'm as cool as we can be. It's bad that this happened, but it's good that it happened at this time," Dutrow said. McKinlay downplayed the severity of the problem, noting that a best-case scenario would allow Big Brown to return to the track on Thursday......more
....“If the race was today, yesterday or tomorrow, this would not be an issue,” said Dutrow Sunday morning at Belmont Park. “The amont of training he is missing is nothing. He is going to be ready to roll.”.....more
...."We didn't know until Saturday that it was a quarter-crack," explained Dutrow, who said he first noticed an issue with the colt's hoof Friday afternoon. "It scares us this happened, but this has nothing to do with his ability to finish what he started. "It's bad it happened, but it's good it happened now. He's going to be OK." ....more
Big Brown, an exceptional thoroughbred, has a very common problem: a quarter crack, which is a split in the wall of a hoof. Trainer Rick Dutrow announced yesterday morning at Belmont Park that the undefeated colt had not trained since Friday because of a condition foot specialist Ian McKinlay termed "very minor." Both expressed optimism that the ailment could be cleared up within a few days, and in the "best-case scenario" the Kentucky Derby-Preakness winner could return to the track "Wednesday or Thursday." The American Association of Equine Practitioners defines a quarter crack as "a vertical crack in the hoof wall between the toe and the heel of the hoof." Big Brown's crack, approximately five-eighths of an inch long, is in the back of his left front hoof......more
....A quarter crack occurs to the hard substance of the hoof, similar to a fingernail, and can be painful and can lead to an infection of the soft tissue underneath. Big Brown did not train Saturday and today. Noted quarter crack specialist Ian McKinlay, who has worked on Big Brown’s hooves in the past, called it a “very, very minor crack” about five-eighths of an inch long in the hoof wall. The hoof is being treated with a solution of iodine and alcohol and be patched Monday with a set of wires and mesh......more
....The quarter crack is a split in the hoof wall, traveling down from the hairline, and it is not related to the previous foot injuries that troubled Big Brown late in his 2-year-old year and again at the beginning if this year, said noted equine hoof specialist Ian McKinlay, who has cared for Big Brown’s feet since last fall......Said McKinlay: ``Unless I make some boneheaded move this will be a walk in the park.’’more
AP News Report - includes comments from McKinlay, Dutrow and Casino Drive spokesman:
Rick Dutrow has been quoted a few times referring to his horse running in the Travers and then The Breeders Cup Classic after that. The Classic would likely feature a showdown with 2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin. Curlin's trainer Steve Asmussen has responded with some very postitive comments about his own horse and some doubts about Big Brown's chances.
The possibility of a dream race between Curlin and Big Brown already has them talking - and not just on the rumor mill. Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Curlin, said he has read a quote attributed to Rick Dutrow, the trainer of Big Brown, regarding a possible matchup. Dutrow, in the Friday editions of Daily Racing Form, said a race between the two "would be good for racing, it would be good for us, it wouldn't be so good for them.".....more
Richard Dutrow has had a lot to say since the spotlight has been cast on him and Big Brown. As opposed to trainers of past Triple Crown quests, he seems to be thriving in the spotlight.
Not every trainer likes the Triple Crown spotlight. In 2000, the non-racing media's silly questions annoyed Neil Drysdale, who seemed relieved when Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus was upset in the Preakness. Three years later, the five-week media blitz over Funny Cide made Barclay Tagg cranky.....more
Here is AP video from today as Dutrow talks about Big Brown, how he feels and that he intends to run through the Travers (even if Michael Iavarone may be telling him not to say that):
Meanwhile Big Brown is laid-back and cool according to Dutrow:
"When you put the bridle on him and start taking him over, he looks like he's sleepy, not interested at all," Dutrow said. Meet the Muhammad Ali of racing. Rope-a-dope on four legs. "I don't know if I've ever been around a horse like him, he is just so amazing how much he is laid-back and doesn't get excited about anything,".....more
Jan-Feb 2007: Big Brown develops a quartercrack in his other foot and is forced to miss more time, jeopardizing a try at the Triple Crown
Dec 22, 2007: With the quartercrack fixed, Big Brown breezes six furlongs on the dirt at Palm Meadows in 1:13 3/5, outworking Diamond Stripes and giving Dutrow great hope for the 3-year old season
Oct-Dec 2007: Big Brown joins stable of Trainer Rick Dutrow, who breezes the colt on the turf in preparation for Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf, but he is sidelined with a quartercrack in his foot
Sept, 2007: 75% stake of Big Brown purchased in a private sale for around $3.5 million by IEAH Stables
Sept 3, 2007: Big Brown wins debut by 11 1/4 lengths as a 15/1 longshot on the turf at Saratoga
Apr-Sept 2007: Owner Paul Pompa Jr names Big Brown as a celebration of the contract Renewal between UPS Freight and his Brooklyn-based trucking company, Truck-Rite Corp.
April 17, 2007: Big Brown Purchased at Keenland Auction for $190,000 by Paul Pompa Jr., who had owned half-brother Snake River for one race.
Oct 24, 2006: Big Brown Purchased at Faisig Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale for $60,000.
April 10, 2005: Bay Colt Big Brown foaled
2004: for a sire fee of $10,000 Boundary is bred in Kentucky by Dr. Gary B Knapp's Monticule Farms to a broodmare named Mien
