After 18 major-league seasons, Mike Mussina announced his retirement Thursday. A 270-game winner with the Yankees and Orioles, the 40-year old right hander ranks 32nd on baseball's career win list.
By Brad Telias
ARCADIA, Calif. -- America's richest horse wasn't able to win America's richest race.
Curlin, racing's top money winner with $10.2 million in earnings and considered the world's best horse racing on dirt, was upset by the 13-1 English invader Raven's Pass in one of the biggest upsets in Breeders' Cup history.
Curlin upset by Raven's Pass in Breeders' Cup Classic....
By JOE DRAPE
ARCADIA, Calif. — Rival trainers marvel at Curlin. John Gosden calls him a machine. Aidan O’Brien believes he can run on any surface, even glass. The Hall of Famers Bobby Frankel and Bill Mott concede he has earned his title as the best horse in the world. So why are they taking a shot at Curlin, the reigning horse of the year, on Saturday?
They believe in their own horses and are convinced that this may be the deepest field in the 25-year history of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, a race worth $5 million. In fact, they barely miss the Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, who hogged all the pre-Breeders’ Cup headlines until he injured his right front hoof and was retired two weeks ago.
“We’ve got to beat everybody, not only Curlin,” said Mott, who won the 1995 Classic with Cigar and will saddle Go Between, the 8-1 third choice in the morning line. “He’s a very good horse, there’s no question about that. They’re lining up a number of good horses. It’s certainly not a one-horse race.”
Curlin May Be Best, but Now He Can Prove It....
ARCADIA, Calif. — The US$2 million Ladies' Classic was billed as one of the glamour matchups of this year's Breeders' Cup, pitting the undefeated Zenyatta against Ginger Punch, last year's champion, along with six other quality opponents.
It turned into a one-horse show as Zenyatta roared to victory with a scintillating last-to-first sweep to extend her winning streak to nine.
"This is a star filly they ran behind," said trainer Saeed bin Suroor, whose two fillies, Cocoa Beach and Music Note, finished second and third, respectively. "It's hard to beat a horse like that."
Impossible, as it turned out.
"I was following horses all the way around and I was happy with my spot," said Javier Castellano, Music Note's jockey. "I wanted to get the jump on the field and I did, but then I saw the big filly go by. She just went. She was much the best."
Ginger Punch, who won last year at New Jersey's Monmouth Park when it was called the Distaff, was never a factor, finishing sixth.
Rafael Bejarano felt Ginger Punch was never comfortable on Santa Anita's new synthetic surface.
"She didn't like the track at all," the rider said. "There's nothing wrong with her. She had her head cocked like she wanted to go outside and was just very uncomfortable."
Run, filly, run: no one catches perfect Zenyatta....
Elmont, NY (Sports Network) - Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown has suffered an injury and will not race in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita this month.
The communications office at Belmont Park confirmed that the three-year-old injured his right front leg Monday morning while training at Aqueduct.
Big Brown injured, out of Breeders' Cup....
By JEROME PUGMIRE
LONGCHAMP, France (AP) — Zarkava won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday with a powerful stretch run and became the first filly in 15 years to win the race.
Zarkava was behind early but as the 16-horse field turned for home, jockey Christophe Soumillon urged on his unbeaten filly and she finished two lengths ahead of Youmzain. The last filly to win was Urban Sea in 1993.
Wind and light rain softened the track on Europe's major middle-distance race over 1 1/2 miles.
Soumillion thumped his chest and blew kisses to the home crowd after winning.
Zarkava wins Arc de Triomphe....
By MIKE FARRELL
NEW YORK (AP) — Curlin became the first horse in North America to top $10 million in career earnings, winning the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at sloppy Belmont Park.
The $450,000 winner's purse pushed Curlin's career bankroll to $10,246,800. Cigar held the old mark of $9,999,815, which stood for 12 years.
"I'm sure this record will be broken someday, but it will take a hell of a horse to do it," winning jockey Robbie Albarado said.
Curlin sets money record....
OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) — Bring on Curlin! That's all the owners of Big Brown want in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Big Brown put another exclamation point on a magnificent 3-year-old season and set up a potential showdown against last year's horse of the year with a courageous front-running victory over older horses in the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
"I can't wait to run against Curlin," Big Brown co-owner Michael Iavarone said. "If he's gonna show up, he should show up in the Breeders' Cup. That's where we are going to be. That would be a great place for us to run against each other."
Curlin is set to run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on Sept. 27, but majority owner Jess Jackson has not committed to running the 4-year-old in The Breeders' Cup on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita in California.
Big Brown was impressive in his final tuneup for thoroughbred racing's richest race in North American.
Big Brown holds off late charge to win Monmouth Stakes....
Racetrack Workers Aren’t Paid Minimum Wage, State Agency Finds
0 comments Posted by Dstall at 10:19 AM
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
With its stately beau monde setting, the Saratoga Race Course is the place to be in August for highbrow horse lovers. But a State Labor Department investigation has found a far less attractive picture for the track’s 1,200 backstretch workers.
The state labor commissioner, M. Patricia Smith, announced on Wednesday that 80 percent of the 110 backstretch workers investigators interviewed — grooms, hot walkers and night watchmen — were not paid minimum wage or time and a half for overtime.
The backstretch workers are employed by individual trainers, who typically train horses for several thoroughbred owners. Some workers told investigators that they were paid just $5.06 an hour, far less than the state minimum wage of $7.15 an hour, Ms. Smith said.
In addition, workers told of being bitten by bedbugs in the racetrack’s dormitories and of eating at soup kitchens because they could not afford the restaurants in Saratoga Springs.
“The violations we uncovered were extensive and significant,” Commissioner Smith said in a telephone interview. “With many workers forced to go to soup kitchens, one can only conclude that the work at the backstretch at Saratoga is a bad bet.”
Racetrack Workers Aren’t Paid Minimum Wage....
By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Any more questions?
Colonel John ended doubts about his stamina and his ability to win on dirt by grinding out a nose victory against Mambo in Seattle in the $1 million Travers Stakes on Saturday.
The winner of the 139th Travers had run a disappointing sixth after a troubled trip in the Kentucky Derby. He redeemed himself somewhat by gaining a taut decision at Saratoga Race Course in the 1¼-mile race known as the "mid-summer Derby."
"I feel the Travers is certainly the second most prestigious 3-year-old race," said triumphant owner Bill Casner. "It's a race to win, a race for the ages."
No more doubt: Colonel John wins $1M Travers Stakes....
By KEITH BRADSHER
HONG KONG — Four horses and their riders were suspended from Olympic show jumping on Thursday after preliminary tests suggested that the skin of the horses may have been treated with a banned derivative of chili peppers.
Combinations of horses and riders from Brazil, Germany, Ireland and Norway were all suspended after initial tests showed the presence of capsaicin, which is widely used in topical ointments for the treatment of minor horse injuries. The substance is banned at the Olympics because it can also serve as a mild stimulant.
The banned rider Tony Andre Hansen and his horse, Camiro, were part of the Norwegian show jumping team that captured a bronze medal on Monday. The Fédération Equestre International, the sport’s international governing body, deferred a decision on whether to revoke the bronze medal until after final test results were confirmed.
Four Equestrian Riders Suspended for Chili Pepper Derivative....
By Paul Moran
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Big Brown is off on his own, bound for a grass race in New Jersey that is meaningful to the big picture in no discernable sense, a turf prep in September for the Breeders' Cup Classic, according to his owners, but to most others an evasive maneuver that avoids Curlin at all costs.
While Big Brown prepares to play on the Monmouth Park lawn, most others prominent in the 3-year-old division are assembled here for Saturday's 139th Travers Stakes, which offers a $1 million purse and the most prestigious title available to horses this age beyond the Triple Crown series.
The race known as the "Midsummer Derby" has in each of the last three years gone to the winner of the Jim Dandy Stakes, which bodes well for Macho Again, who last month won a hard-fought battle that put him at the wire a half-length in front of Pyro at the end of a strongly run 9 furlongs.
This year's Travers is significant even without Big Brown....
By Glenye Cain Oakford
Daily Racing Form
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Genuine Risk, one of only three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby and 1980's champion 3-year-old filly, has died in Virginia at age 31.
Genuine Risk died Monday morning at owner Bert and Diana Firestone's Newstead Farm in Upperville, Va., according to a release the Firestones issued Monday.
"Genuine Risk passed away peacefully early this morning shortly after being turned out in her paddock," the release said.
Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk dies at 31....
By JEFFREY McMURRAY – 44 minutes ago
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Curlin is heading back to dirt for his next race — the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga — but his majority owner says that doesn't necessarily mean the turf experiment is over.
Jess Jackson announced Tuesday that the reigning Horse of the Year will next run in the $500,000 Grade I Woodward on Aug. 30.
Curlin made his turf debut last month, finishing second in the Man o' War Handicap at Belmont Park. Jackson said he considered sending Curlin out on another grass track for his next race but decided to keep the horse closer to home and on a more familiar surface — at least for now.
"We decided this is the best place to show his talent," Jackson said. "Race him in America. Race him on a surface he's already a champion, and put it in a historic venue where we can add to his legend."
Curlin has been training at Saratoga in upstate New York this summer.
Curlin to race next on dirt at Saratoga....
Big Brown Is Successful, but Not Overpowering, in His Return to Racing
0 comments Posted by Dstall at 7:34 PM
By BILL FINLEY
OCEANPORT, N.J. — A new Big Brown showed up Sunday at the Jersey Shore. He was neither the brilliant animal that toyed with his challengers in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes nor was he the one that bombed in the Belmont Stakes. This was a Big Brown that had just enough in his tank to grind out a one-and-three-quarter-length victory over the 20-1 shot Coal Play in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.
It was a successful return to the races for Big Brown, but not necessarily an overwhelming one.
Coal Play, who was ridden hard from the gate by Joe Bravo to get to the early lead, was pulling away from Big Brown on the far turn. Big Brown was already under a vigorous ride by jockey Kent Desormeaux and was going nowhere. But Big Brown found another gear inside the final furlong and managed to pass Coal Play inside the final 50 yards. While doing so, he was bearing out throughout the stretch, often a sign that a horse is tired or in distress.
Big Brown Is Successful, but Not Overpowering, in His Return to Racing....
By Mike Farrell
Daily Racing Form
Ready Set edged Web Gem by a head Saturday to win the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park.
The top two finishers made strong inside moves in the action-filled race.
Recapturetheglory broke through the gate before the start and was quickly reloaded. The obviously eager colt got caught up in the early pace and ultimately faded to ninth.
When Recapturetheglory's bid failed, Cherokee Artist took charge on the final turn and looked poised to take the rich prize in only his fifth start.
In the end, the two colts who saved ground settled the issue.
Jorge Chavez aboard Web Gem filed an objection against Julien Laparoux on Ready Set that was swiftly dismissed by the stewards.
Ready Set ($11.20) earned his fourth win in 11 starts for Team Barbaro: the Lael Stable and trainer Michael Matz.
The time was 1:52.03 for the 1 1/8 miles on the fast track.
Ready Set by a head in West Virginia Derby....
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky.: Trainers of horses that test positive for anabolic steroids at the Breeders' Cup in October will face a one-year suspension from the event, and three-time violators will be banned for life, according to new rules announced Friday.
The Breeders' Cup will be at Santa Anita in California on Oct. 24-25, and the track will also host the event in 2009.
"We must provide an even playing field for all our equine athletes if we are to continue to offer the best thoroughbred racing in the world," said Greg Avioli, Breeders' Cup president and chief executive officer. "Our number one priority remains preserving the integrity of our competition and protecting the welfare of our athletes."
Breeders' Cup announces new steroid penalties....
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named actress and animal rights activist Bo Derek on Tuesday to a state commission overseeing horse racing.
Derek, 51, was appointed to fill one of two vacant posts on the California Horse Racing Board, a position requires confirmation by the state Senate and pays $100 per diem.
Derek is a horse lover who has lobbied Congress for the past five years to ban the slaughter of the animals. She also owns the pet care products company Bless the Beasts, which sells such items as dog shampoos, conditioner and fur polish.
She also wrote the book "Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses." Her Web site said the autobiography links her life lessons with her understanding of horses.
Bo Derek appointed to Calif. horse racing board....
BY ED McNAMARA
He didn't look bad, but he didn't look great. Finishing second making your turf debut in a Grade I would be a triumph for most horses. For Curlin, it was a disappointment, and his proposed trip to France is on hold.
The defending Horse of the Year never looked like a winner in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park yesterday, when he lost by two lengths to Red Rocks, winner of the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf. Better Talk Now, who took the 2004 Turf, was third, a half-length farther back.
"Obviously, he didn't grab me like he normally does," jockey Robby Albarado said. "His acceleration was a little different. It wasn't an awful race, and he was up against it with two Breeders' Cup winners. I'd like to see him get another shot on the turf. It was like a first race for him, a new chapter. He felt comfortable over it. But to say that he loves it? Maybe next time will be his show-up race."
Curlin didn't have the best of trips, breaking a step slowly after hitting the gate and being four-wide down the backstretch and into the stretch. The 2-5 favorite stalked Red Rocks from fourth while Mission Approved and Sudan set a foolishly fast pace, with a quarter in 22.69 seconds and a half-mile in 47.62. Sudan and Mission Approved were still 1-2 after a mile in 1:35.9, but the battle clearly would be between Red Rocks and Curlin.
Curlin beaten at Belmont in his turf debut....
By Marty McGee
Daily Racing Form
Ron Geary, the owner of Ellis Park, said Wednesday night he is closing the 86-year-old track in Henderson, Ky., where a 44-day meet was scheduled to begin Friday.
Geary, who bought Ellis from Churchill Downs in September 2006, made the decision after a U.S. District Court judge in Owensboro, Ky., ruled Wednesday against his suit for an injunction to permit Ellis to offer account-deposit wagering on Ellis races.
Geary told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Wednesday night: "I don't have any plans on opening it again as a racetrack. That's for sure." A formal announcement was scheduled for Thursday morning at the track.
Officials with the Kentucky division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association said that they hoped to continue negotiating with Geary over the divisive ADW issue and that horsemen would suffer if Ellis remained closed. The meet was scheduled to run through Sept. 1.
Owner closes Ellis Park over dispute....
By Larry Stumes
Mast Track, owned, bred and trained by Bobby Frankel, controlled the pace with steady fractions and won the Grade 1, $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup by 21/4 lengths over favored Go Between on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
Ridden by Tyler Baze, Russell's second cousin, Mast Track ran his quarter-mile fractions in 24.41 seconds, 24.47, 24.10, 23.96 and 24.43 to finish 1 1/4 miles in a Cushion Track record 2:01.37.
Northern California's McCann's Mojave finished fourth and earned $45,000 to move to $1,513,565 for his 35-race career. The Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Heatseeker would have been favored but was scratched Friday because of a minor injury to his left front ankle.
Mast Track paid $23.60 for his fifth victory in nine starts and his first in a stakes event. He has two wins and a second in three starts on synthetic surfaces. His other races have been on grass including a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile.
Mast Track easily wins in Hollywood....
By BILL FINLEY
Concerned that he has been unfairly labeled a cheat, Rick Dutrow, the trainer of Big Brown, said Friday that his latest drug offense had been overblown and insisted that he did not purposely break any rules.
During another week in which horse racing’s drug problems have been in the news, Dutrow was suspended for 15 days because of drug use by a horse he trains.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority announced this week that the horse, Salute the Count, tested positive for an excessive amount of the drug clenbuterol after finishing second in the Aegon Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on May 2 — the day before the Kentucky Derby.
Dutrow Says Drug Violation Is Overblown....
By Steve Andersen
Daily Racing Form
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- The absence of Heatseeker from Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup has turned a race with a heavy favorite into one that has become a more intriguing betting race.
Heatseeker, who was declared on Friday after developing swelling in an ankle, would have been heavily favored in the Gold Cup. Without him, the Gold Cup has several logical contenders among its nine remaining entrants.
The Gold Cup, to be run at 1 1/4 miles over Cushion Track, is the 10th race on an 11-race program that features four stakes and a guaranteed pick six pool of $500,000. First post time is noon, Pacific.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Big Brown’s co-owner Michael Iavarone rejected the notion Monday that steroid withdrawal played a role in the colt’s last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
What happened during the Belmont remains a mystery to Iavarone, although a picture he received from a freelance photographer appears to show Big Brown running in the Belmont with a dislodged shoe on his right hind hoof. There was no evidence of injury to the hoof after the race, but Iavarone said he did not think it could have been comfortable for the horse, who was wearing an acrylic patch on his left front hoof, to compensate for a painful quarter crack.
“It has to be considered a very strong possibility,” Iavarone said. “If the shoe was off, it’s like running on a wobbly cleat.”
Did Loose Shoe Hurt Big Brown?....
By JOE DRAPE
The owners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown, saying they want to lead the way to the elimination of performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing, announced Sunday that they would immediately begin withdrawing all steroids and any unnecessary medications from their horses.
Michael Iavarone, a co-president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, said that the more than 50 horses owned by his stable would be drug free by Oct. 1, and that he would pay for tests to be administered by state or track veterinarians before and after each of their races to prove it.
“I know Big Brown or any of our horses do not need this stuff to win,” he said. “I’m not worried about an uneven playing field, either. The cost of the drug tests are a small price to pay for the integrity of the sport. I’m urging other owners to join us, and let’s turn the game around.”
Big Brown’s Owners Say Stable Will Go Steroid Free....
Big Brown set to race again, this time at the Haskell Invitational
0 comments Posted by Dstall at 5:53 PM
NEW YORK — Big Brown is on his way back to the races, his next start set for the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3.
Less than two weeks after Big Brown's Triple Crown attempt ended with an inexplicable last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, co-owner Paul Pompa Jr. said the Haskell on the Jersey Shore will mark the colt's return.
"The race fits his style," Pompa said Thursday. "We were disappointed after the Belmont, and we needed to regroup. We did and the Haskell is the plan."
Big Brown has been training daily at Aqueduct Racetrack, while his poor performance in the Belmont remains a mystery to the owners and trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.
"Big Brown is healthy and our plan right now is to keep racing him this summer and fall," Dutrow said in a statement to a congressional committee investigating horse racing safety.
The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner never seemed comfortable in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, and jockey Kent Desormeaux eased up with a quarter-mile remaining.
The choice of the 1 1-8-mile Haskell over the 1 1/4-mile Travers Stakes on Aug. 23 at Saratoga was made based on the track and weather.
"Monmouth is a speed-favouring track and it's comparable to Gulfstream Park, which Big Brown is fond of," Pompa said, a reference to Big Brown's two overpowering wins at the Florida track before the Triple Crown races. "And the spacing between races sets up other options."
Big Brown set to race again....
By JOSEPH WHITE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The image painted was not a pleasant one as the 78-year-old owner of thoroughbred racing's top horse pleaded before Congress to save his sport.
"We're looking for Arnold Schwarzenegger's upper body and then we go to Don Knotts' legs and knees," said Jess Jackson, owner of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin. "We don't need all of the inbreeding we have. I go to Argentina to buy horses; I go to Germany to buy horses because they have stronger bones and better knees. We need a league and a commissioner. We need action, please. Congress, help."
Bloodlines, steroids, the lack of an authoritative governing body, alarming figures on horse deaths and a breech of protocol by Big Brown's trainer were all topics of discussion Thursday before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. The hearing was called after Eight Belles broke down at the Kentucky Derby last month and was euthanized on the track.
There was widespread agreement among the witnesses regarding many of the industry's ills: steroids, breakdowns on the track and weaker bloodlines that produce horses that can race far fewer times than their counterparts decades ago.
Consensus on addressing these problems was another matter. That was hardly surprising considering the sport essentially is run by 38 sets of rules — one for each state in which racing takes place.
"We are a rudderless ship," longtime breeder Arthur Hancock said. "And the way we're going, we will all end up on the rocks."
Congress debates intervention into racing safety....
By JOE DRAPE
In an effort to blunt the expected criticism from a Congressional subcommittee , the horse racing industry’s Thoroughbred Safety Committee recommended Tuesday that steroids and toe grabs be banned, and that new rules be implemented on the use of whips.
The changes were endorsed by 13 of the most powerful constituencies in the sport including breeders, veterinarians, horsemen and the operators of the nation’s largest tracks.
The proposals are the first recommendations from the committee, which was established by the Jockey Club after the filly Eight Belles, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby, broke down and was euthanized on the track after the race.
MORE....
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Curlin looked as good in his return to the United States as he did before he left.
The reigning horse of the year, Curlin won his fifth consecutive race Saturday, easily taking the Stephen Foster Handicap in his first race on North American soil in more than seven months.
Curlin, a 4-year-old colt, was coming off a victory in the world’s richest race — the $6 million Dubai World Cup in March. He coasted Saturday at one of the only racetracks that has given him trouble. He finished third in his previous trip to Churchill Downs, at last year’s Kentucky Derby.
ARTICLE....
By Don Agriss, Horse Racing Editor
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Now that the Triple Crown races have been completed, attention turns to the handicap division of thoroughbred racing. Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs the $1 million Stephen Foster Handicap begins in earnest the trek toward the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.
The 1 1/8 mile Foster Handicap features reigning Horse of the Year Curlin with nine challengers set to take on the four-year-old. Curlin, trained by Steve Asmussen, will be making his first start since late March when he easily defeated 11 rivals in the $6 million Dubai World Cup.
"I'm very anxious to run him," Asmussen said on Thursday. "He's a very exciting horse to be around, and this is his purpose. He's very dialed-in. I think he's an absolutely gorgeous animal, but I'm biased."
CONTINUE....
The Associated Press
NEW YORK: The state will take over New York City's financially troubled Off-Track Betting Corp., saving 1,500 jobs that were on the brink of being eliminated this weekend, Gov. David Paterson announced Friday.
"New York City OTB will remain open for business," Paterson said at a Manhattan news conference.
The agreement with state legislative leaders was hammered out in the shadow of a Sunday deadline for shutting down the bookmaking operation. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had imposed the deadline, saying he would no longer subsidize a gambling operation that lost millions of dollars a year.
Bloomberg's office had no immediate comment on Paterson's announcement.
MORE....
By Mark Blaudschun
ELMONT, N.Y. - The sun came up again yesterday at Belmont Park, and life went on. But instead of basking in the glow of a Triple Crown coronation, the day was clouded with uncertainty for those around Big Brown after his stunning last-place finish in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
Co-owner Michael Iavarone said a check of the horse revealed no major problems.
"We went over him good last night, again this morning, and see nothing physically that shows up," said Iavarone, speaking to reporters by phone. "Scoped clean, nothing, feet ice cold, quarter crack [in his left front hoof] not an issue. Chalk this one up to a question mark.
"I'm as confused as anybody. The only thing we're resorting to right now is the track might have been too deep for him and he didn't like it out there."
MORE....
Big Brown loses in Belmont Stakes, fails in bid for Triple Crown
0 comments Posted by Dstall at 3:58 PM
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Big Brown failed in his bid to become horse racing's 12th Triple Crown winner when he finished dead last to Da' Tara in the Belmont Stakes.
Da' Tara went wire to wire to beat eight other thoroughbreds over 1½ miles, the longest and toughest of the three classics.
"I had no horse," said Big Brown's jockey, Kent Desormeaux.
All week long, Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr. said the horse's victory was "a foregone conclusion." He turned out be wrong.
The bay colt's disappointing performance followed convincing victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He failed on the same track where 10 horses had been beaten over the last three decades. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
MORE ON ESPN.com
Big Brown's biggest obstacle to the first Triple Crown in three decades pulled out of the Belmont Stakes this morning.
Casino Drive, the horse handicapped as having best chance to crush odds-on favorite Big Brown's Triple Crown dreams, was scratched from the race because of a bruised left hind hoof.
Casino Drive had a light workout early this morning, but began to favor the hoof during a post-jog bath, the horse's racing manager Nobutaka Tada confirmed. While only a minor injury, the decision to shelf the Japanese race horse was taken as a precationary measure.
The exit takes Big Brown a step closer to capturing horse racing's most prestigious prize, the Triple Crown, a sporting feat not accomplished since 1978 when Affirmed made racing history.
STORY....
