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Triple Crown Archive

Triple Crown, Huh, What Is it Good For?

Absolutely nothing, of course.

This idea that the sport needs a Triple Crown winner is laughable. So Big Brown wins the Triple Crown, Joe Public gets attached, and then never sees the horse again? How is that good for the sport?

The idea that Big Brown winning the Triple Crown will make someone go check out the races at Grants Pass Downs or Yakima Meadows is akin to saying that someone breaking the world record for running a mile will make more people go to their local high school track meet.

People want to see greatness, which is why 100,000-plus people will go to Belmont and millions will watch on TV.

Indeed, the pursuit of a Triple Crown is infinitely more valuable than the Triple Crown itself especially when the best horses in the race all these “new fans” are about to watch are headed to the breeding shed and back to Japan afterward.

Posted in Triple Crown on May 19, 2008

Cede the Crown

The Triple Crown? It’s a done deal for super Big Brown:

“He’s the right horse at the right time. Confident, cool and awesome. A freak. And a dream.” – Rick Maese

“That stretch run was, dare we say, reminiscent of Secretariat’s history-making triumph in the Belmont Stakes in 1973, when he streaked off to wrap up the Triple Crown.” – Ray Kerrison

“He is special, blessed, not mortal. It’s not fair to the other horses. Racing him is like giving Pete Sampras three serves, letting Wilt play on a seven-foot basket, fighting Ali with one hand.” – Bill Dwyre

“Everyone’s been waiting for the next Secretariat-type horse, and we got him. He’s going to do it.” – Bob Baffert

“No living, breathing being is beating Big Brown. Only an act of God, or a balky starting gate or a soft spot on his dirt on the Belmont track, can keep the winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown from closing the deal three Saturdays from now.” – David Steele

“That horse from Japan, Casino Drive, will be waiting for us, but he can’t beat our horse. All the Japanese people coming here for the race thought Godzilla was dead. They’re going to find out he’s not dead.” – Rick Dutrow

Meanwhile, Andrew Beyer plays spoilsport. At least one commentator is keeping a little perspective …

Posted in Triple Crown on May 18, 2008

Let the Hype Begin

Big Brown just made the Preakness look like a NY-bred allowance race over the Aqueduct inner track and now heads to Belmont as the first contender for the Triple Crown since Smarty Jones … and regardless of how he does there, he’ll likely retire immediately after to Three Chimneys, which bought stallion rights to the Boundary colt for $50 million.
5/18 Addendum: The final time of 1:54.80 translates into a Beyer speed figure of 100 for Big Brown. Just as his Derby figure didn’t reflect ground loss or the headwind he raced into, so this one doesn’t reflect the strong hold Desormeaux had on him down the backstretch, or the rider wrapping him up in the stretch, saving a little for the Belmont, or the easy dominance Big Brown displayed over a weak field.

Posted in Triple Crown on May 17, 2008

Preakness Picks

Ed’s picks:
Kentucky Bear has flashed the kind of talent required to win this race.
Trainer Reade Baker has said that Big Brown does not even need to bounce off his winning Kentucky Derby effort for Kentucky Bear to win. While I don’t agree with that, I do think that Big Brown will react to his big effort two weeks ago, and that Kentucky Bear is the most likely winner if that happens.
Racecar Rhapsody ran some quick races at two, and this one looks to be rounding back into top form for trainer Ken McPeek in his third start off the layoff.
Racing Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito has told anyone who will listen that Stevil will hit the board, and Zito’s friends did hit the superfecta last year when Hemingway’s Key finished third.
Look, I’m not stupid. Big Brown is the most likely winner, but there will be overlays in the exotic pool. Kentucky Bear has some steam on him, so I’ll play Big Brown on top of Stevil and Racecar Rhapsody in tris and key Kentucky Bear in the supers. Then I’ll back that up with Kentucky Bear, Racecar Rhapsody, and Stevil exacta boxes and them on top of Big Brown.
JC’s picks:
Steroids-enhanced Big Brown is 1-9 in early wagering and with his triple-Beyer advantage, he’ll be hard to beat. Going with probability, I’ll play Big Brown over Racecar Rhapsody, Giant Moon, and Hey Byrn.

Posted in Triple Crown on May 17, 2008

Friday Morning Notes

– On Thursday, Big Brown galloped a mile and a half at Pimlico, got a new pair of glue-on shoes on his front feet, and probably got a shot of the legal steroid Winstrol:

“I give all my horses Winstrol on the 15th of every month,” Dutrow told the Daily News.

Asked recently why he uses the supplement, Dutrow replied:

“You’d have to ask the vet what the purpose of that is,” he said. “I don’t know what it does. I just like using it.”

Prompting this hilarious follow-up conversation, which was reported by the Baltimore Sun:

You like using it, but you don’t know what it does? Why would you like using it if you don’t know what it does? You must see something?

“No,” he said. “I don’t.”

Do you see something from not using it?

“No,” he said.

Right, he knows nothing about what Winstrol does or why he likes it. I wonder if Dutrow, who maintains he has had only one medication violation in his career, knows more about the phenylbutazone overages at Gulfstream and Calder that went on his record this year (PDF).
– More about Big Brown’s new shoes and heels at Hoofcare.
– Behindatthebar is out of the Preakness. The Lexington winner came up with a bruised left front foot this morning.
– Dick Powell, pondering the Preakness, gets conspiratorial: “Why are a dozen mediocre sophomores willing to take him on? What do their connections know or suspect?”
– The stud deal for Big Brown, which was to be announced on Thursday, is on hold. “Legal issues and time constraints proved too much to overcome,” said IEAH president Michael Iavorone, “and we will revisit all options following the Preakness” (ThoroTimes).
– Thoroughbred Safety Committee chairman Stuart Janney said the day after the committee met for the first time that there were “relatively few” things the Jockey Club could do to enforce recommendations that might emerge from the panel’s deliberations and so the committee would mainly serve “as a bully pulpit to be persuasive on certain matters” (Blood-Horse). This is when I miss being a reporter: Such a statement, which suggests no forthcoming threats to the status quo, brings up several questions I’d love to ask. For instance: As the official breed registry — the organization through which every thoroughbred must be registered in order to race and breed — what hinders the Jockey Club from establishing rules regarding the age a horse enters stud service or forbidding the use for breeding of horses that ran on certain raceday medications? Surely, TJC has more power than just approving racehorse names.
– The Wall Street Journal follows Jess Jackson to Argentina, where the prominent owner scouts for sturdy breeding stock.
– Magnificience returns! Sunday, Hollywood, third race.

Posted in Triple Crown on May 16, 2008

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