oh, and one other, VERY important question...

so does this mean servis is smarter than dutrow thought??????

snake in the grass

I mentioned the same thing about Frankel, from my memory he almost never has been slammed, while Pletcher during some of his seemingly unbeatable streaks he went on in 06 and 07 would raise the odd eyebrow. I also found it interesting that Dutrow and Frankel have an association/friendship where they use each others barns when they ship horses into a locale that they need to stable for a horse.

Thanks for the clarification, I would hope it was only a smattering. When you get booed in N.Y I guess you can say you made it baby.

Could this group get any more dysfunctional?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horse...sormeaux_N.htm

Iavarone said Big Brown will probably be pointed toward the Aug. 3 Haskell Invitational at New Jersey's Monmouth Park as a prep race for the Aug. 23 Travers Stakes. He is not contemplating a jockey change.

"I don't like that move," Dutrow said of the Haskell. He said he'd prefer to train up to the Travers.

I like Cauthen's comment..

I don't believe them, if I were a betting man. Big Brown will be at Saratoga in the Travers with Edgar Prado aboard. Call it an educated guess.

I find Bailey, Stevens and Cauthen's comments far more interesting than what the owner thinks, where he wants to race next, etc. Sure, I want to hear what Dutrow thinks and where he wants to race him. That will be bantered around 100 times between now and then. Maybe between now and next week.

Eric

If Iavarone wasnt such an egomaniac yes they would be at the Travers with Prado up. That being said, for a liar, fraud, and an egomaniac, it can be very difficult to admit you dont have a clue whats going on. He may infact push Big Brown over to Jersey thinking he knows best. Dutrow may be a sleezy guy, but he knows what hes doing. Any training or spotting of Big Brown should be done by Dutrow, not Mr Iavarone

Bailey and Stevens are dead on the money.

The orange is squeezed dry, I highly doubt that horse runs again

I like how the track was described as " deep and heavily cushioned " as though, if it were true, that was a bad thing. In light of recent events in this TC that would have been most preferred. Of course, the times during the day are conveniently ignored.

Whatever works as an excuse....the weather, the track, the jockey, etc, etc. The bottom line is that the horse lost. It happens. It's racing. Big Brown was never as good as was suggested. He's obviously a lot better than he ran Saturday. But, so what, he lost, it's horse racing, it happens. Time to move ahead and stop complaining about the past.

Check, check, check.

In my opinion the problem with this game at the highest levels again goes back to the breeders. They always have to find an excuse on why he's not the superhorse they paid $50 million for, to justify their horrifically bad investment to potential shareholders/buyers of stud duty. You know and I know he's an excellent horse who had a bad day, and don't really need an explanation in this case. When he returns we can draw a line through the race, and see what that leaves.

because he was promoted as unbeatable there is naturally a cycle of finger pointing, face saving, and general "CYA" going on here. it is mostly bluster from what I can tell and has a circus-like feel to it.

i wonder, should he come back to race again later in the year, just how confident they will be going into the race? in other words will they tone down the rhetoric a notch and not cast the outcome as a foregone conclusion.

except in this case they didnt really pay 50 million for him. My totally non scientific poll of friends who breed horses found virtually no one willing to breed to this horse for a big ticket. I dont know that there was that much actual demand for the horse as a stallion. Much of the 50 million dollar figure may have served more as a recruiting tool for future investors than real money.

For those interested in the stallion aspect of this deal -- nobody paid or got $50m. The farm "bought" the breeding rights, as a % of the ownership, based upon $50m.

According to people in the industry, principals, there was not strong indications of interest for shares in this horse. Many who might have been interested wanted to wait and see how the "rest of the story played out" so to speak.

Just look at the economics -- the stud fee, which drives the share price; the # of mares he would have to breed and (what most tend to forget about) the # of mares in foal, the # of live foals (all formulaic for the syndication), and so on. Now, those #'s just fell apart. For it to be feasible, he has to come back and make the Belmont a "draw a line through it" race.

Eric

Excellent point.

Eric

http://www.drf.com/news/article/95610.html

Big Brown to return in Haskell
By DAVID GRENING

ELMONT, N.Y. - Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown will make his next start in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 3, co-owner Michael Iavarone said Thursday.

"The Haskell's clearly a first target right now," said Iavarone, who heads the International Equine Acquisitions Holdings Inc. stable that owns 75 percent of Big Brown.

It will elude him again Steve. A horse can get you respectability but you have to live it to keep it. From everything I've heard, he's not well liked for a whole host of reasons.

what are they whining about ?
its a million doller race, over a speed favoring track.
i would run him there .

isn't Monmouth deep?