SWC75
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2008: Big Brown
Four years later, a horse came along that everybody thought really had the stuff to go all the way. And he seemed to have the name for it, as well. Both Man O’ War and Secretariat were called “Big Red”. Here came “Big Brown”. A Kentucky horse, he was named in honor of UPS. He changed owners twice and wound up owned by IEAH Stables, which was run as a hedge fund. Very modern. He also changed trainers but wound up in the care of Rick Dutrow and was ridden by Kent Desormeaux, who had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown with Real Quiet a decade before.
No underdog, he was an undefeated 2-1 favorite to win the Derby and didn’t disappoint anybody, winning by nearly five lengths. Unfortunately this race is more remembered for the breakdown of the second place finisher, Eight Belles, who had to be euthanized, (I hate the term “destroyed“).
Big Brown then won the Preakness by more than 5 lengths as a 1-5 favorite. He was the overwhelming favorite to win the TC. I remember asking people who knew more about horse racing than I did why this horse would be the one when so many had failed. They just told me that this horse was on a whole other level than those others.
But he had a history of cracks showing up in his hooves and a three-incher showed up in Big Brown’s left front hoof after the Preakness. Wikipedia: “For the Belmont Stakes, Big Brown wore a second set of stainless steel sutures on the inside of his hoof. Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay changed the sutures a week before the race and attached an acrylic and fiberglass adhesive patch to the hoof. Although Big Brown missed three days of training prior to the race, his gait and attitude seemed unaffected” Dutrow referred to the injury as “a little hiccup”.
Big Brown was still a 3-10 favorite. “He was rank in the early stages of the race, and nearly ran up on the heels of eventual winner Da' Tara. Then Desormeaux tried to swing Big Brown to the outside during the first turn and bumped into Tale of Ekati. Da' Tara won the race by 5¼ lengths while Big Brown finished ninth, becoming the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish last in the Belmont. (Symbolic of what the economy, with all its hedge funds, was about to do.)
Kent Desormeaux pulled the horse up in the homestretch, later saying something was amiss and stating immediately after the race, "I had no horse" although no other physical abnormality was ever found…Two weeks after the Belmont, a picture revealed a dislodged shoe on Big Brown's right hind leg that could have been the cause of his poor performance. The shoe might have come loose during the race and gotten pushed back in while he was running.” It was the only race of 8 that Big Brown didn’t win and he finished last: 7-0-0 in 8 races. It must be hard to race with split hooves and loose shoes. Like Mars Blackmon used to say: “Its’ the Shoes! It’s gotta be da shoes!”
Four years later, a horse came along that everybody thought really had the stuff to go all the way. And he seemed to have the name for it, as well. Both Man O’ War and Secretariat were called “Big Red”. Here came “Big Brown”. A Kentucky horse, he was named in honor of UPS. He changed owners twice and wound up owned by IEAH Stables, which was run as a hedge fund. Very modern. He also changed trainers but wound up in the care of Rick Dutrow and was ridden by Kent Desormeaux, who had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown with Real Quiet a decade before.
No underdog, he was an undefeated 2-1 favorite to win the Derby and didn’t disappoint anybody, winning by nearly five lengths. Unfortunately this race is more remembered for the breakdown of the second place finisher, Eight Belles, who had to be euthanized, (I hate the term “destroyed“).
Big Brown then won the Preakness by more than 5 lengths as a 1-5 favorite. He was the overwhelming favorite to win the TC. I remember asking people who knew more about horse racing than I did why this horse would be the one when so many had failed. They just told me that this horse was on a whole other level than those others.
But he had a history of cracks showing up in his hooves and a three-incher showed up in Big Brown’s left front hoof after the Preakness. Wikipedia: “For the Belmont Stakes, Big Brown wore a second set of stainless steel sutures on the inside of his hoof. Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay changed the sutures a week before the race and attached an acrylic and fiberglass adhesive patch to the hoof. Although Big Brown missed three days of training prior to the race, his gait and attitude seemed unaffected” Dutrow referred to the injury as “a little hiccup”.
Big Brown was still a 3-10 favorite. “He was rank in the early stages of the race, and nearly ran up on the heels of eventual winner Da' Tara. Then Desormeaux tried to swing Big Brown to the outside during the first turn and bumped into Tale of Ekati. Da' Tara won the race by 5¼ lengths while Big Brown finished ninth, becoming the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish last in the Belmont. (Symbolic of what the economy, with all its hedge funds, was about to do.)
Kent Desormeaux pulled the horse up in the homestretch, later saying something was amiss and stating immediately after the race, "I had no horse" although no other physical abnormality was ever found…Two weeks after the Belmont, a picture revealed a dislodged shoe on Big Brown's right hind leg that could have been the cause of his poor performance. The shoe might have come loose during the race and gotten pushed back in while he was running.” It was the only race of 8 that Big Brown didn’t win and he finished last: 7-0-0 in 8 races. It must be hard to race with split hooves and loose shoes. Like Mars Blackmon used to say: “Its’ the Shoes! It’s gotta be da shoes!”
