Big Love for Big Brown
While Big Brown, the Bay Colt who took the first two legs of this year's Triple Crown, grazes, Rick Dutrow, his trainer, gazes. The horse is relaxing in a stall at Belmont Park, gnawing some hay. "When I look at him, I see a horse that's as cool and as calm as can be," says Dutrow, who has escaped the depths of addiction and gone on to train a Thoroughbred who might be the best in a generation. "He moves me." Dutrow points out Big Brown's birthmark, a rare speck of white fuzz above his front left leg, and lovingly strokes his right ear. "He acts like he's one of us," Dutrow says. "Like he wants to be one of us."
Horsemen love hyperbole and ascribing human traits to their beloved breed. But Dutrow's not the only one falling for Big Brown. The colt cruised to a 4 3/4-length win in the Kentucky Derby and so overpowered the Preakness field that jockey Kent Desormeaux eased him across the finish. Big Brown will be the heavy favorite to win the Belmont Stakes on June 7 in Elmont, N.Y., a Long Island town that borders New York City. If he does, Big Brown would become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed took that title 30 years ago.
After Eight Belles, a filly, was injured in the Derby and euthanized on the track, racing needs a feel-good equine story in the worst way. "He's got the size, the mentality, the stride and acceleration," says Angel Cordero, one of the best jocks of all time. "He's like a car--he comes with everything. Just step on it, and you're there."
The most impressive part of his engine is an unmatched second gear. In the Preakness, he hung with leaders until the far turn. Then, with little prodding from Desormeaux, he glided past everyone down the stretch. "It's very unusual to have a horse who can do that," says Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger. "He doesn't really hit overdrive; he just moves away." Big Brown's knack for controlling a race has Nafzger comparing the laid-back colt to Seattle Slew, the legendary horse who won the Triple Crown in 1977. No one saw this coming; Big Brown sold for just $190,000 as a 2-year-old, and before the Derby, he had run only three races in his career. (He won them all, of course.)
The oddball cast of humans supporting Big Brown makes the horse's rise more Guys and Dolls than Kentucky blue blood. They're fast-talking New Yorkers. Besides Dutrow, an ex-addict who was once so down and out that he lived in a racetrack barn, take Michael Iavarone, 37, Big Brown's majority owner. An ex--Wall Street banker and Long Island native who left the rat race for horse-racing, Iavarone and his partners arranged to buy control of Big Brown for $2.5 million in September, after watching him race once--once--on TV. "We put our balls on the line," he says proudly. The brash owner is even starting a horse hedge fund, allowing private investors to buy into his portfolio of Thoroughbreds and sell out at a handsome profit if they succeed. Or lose it all. "My confidence is sky-high right now," he says.
Iavarone bought his piece of the horse from Paul Pompa, a New Jersey guy who runs a Brooklyn trucking company. Pompa was offered some $1.5 million extra for Big Brown from the stable run by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, who doubles as the most powerful man in horse-racing. No one says no to the Sheik. But Pompa did, because he wanted to keep a 25% share in Big Brown. Before the Preakness, venerable Kentucky stud farm Three Chimneys bought Big Brown's breeding rights for upwards of $50 million, putting at least $12.5 million in Pompa's pocket. "That was a good move by me, eh?" he says. Pompa, 49, also gave the horse his name--Big Brown is a salute to UPS, the package-delivery outfit--after the company renewed a contract with Pompa's trucking business.
The team entrusted Big Brown to jockey Desormeaux, a Hall of Famer who moved his family from California to New York a couple of years ago because he got fed up with losing out West. Though he had already won two Derbys, the last in 2000, Desormeaux was supposed to be history. Now he's primed for the Triple Crown and inspiring fans in the process. Desormeaux, 38, balances racing with raising son Jacob, 9, who suffers from Usher syndrome, a disease that causes deafness and a gradual loss of vision. Jacob has lived through 11 surgeries. "He's the happiest boy on earth," says Desormeaux. "The only people who are sad right now are his parents and the people who love him."
You can call Desormeaux a role model. That term would not apply to Dutrow. He remembers mixing cocaine and quaaludes one night in the 1980s and getting into his car. Luckily, he woke up on the side of the road, unharmed. "A miracle," he says. He was a reckless gambler, once betting $160,000 on a horse. He won that one, but he remembers losing a few $50,000 bets. Why risk so much? "'Cause I'm an idiot," he says. "Come on, man."
He was suspended from New York tracks for five years because he tested positive for marijuana. A decade ago, Dutrow, now 48, was flat broke and living in a barn at a Queens racetrack. He had the essentials--a fridge, a telephone, a television--but he had to shower in another barn. ("Dirty floors, no water pressure, but it cleaned you up.")
Dutrow, whose father was a respected trainer, cleaned up his life to get back in the races. He's handled Big Brown with care and become a doting father to his 13-year-old daughter. But his detox has still left him a few furlongs short of redemption. His racing rap sheet is as long as Big Brown's stride. He's been suspended several times over the past few years for everything from overmedicating his horses to giving them banned substances and even for falsifying a workout report. Hey, nobody's perfect.
Plus, political correctness isn't his forte. Dutrow, who calls everyone he meets "babe," insisted that his time spent as barn owl wasn't lonely. "Pretty soon I had broads running in and out of the place," he says. When asked about Casino Drive, a horse from Japan who has emerged as a possible threat to Big Brown's Crown bid, Dutrow says he would tell his jockey "to find Yamamoto," referring to the Japanese admiral who conceived the Pearl Harbor attack, "and chew his ass."
At least his horse has style, although the sport's chattering class is starting to wonder if Big Brown has trampled weak competition. Even Dutrow admits that other horses "aren't showing up." It's a legitimate argument, but "when a horse does it, don't knock him," says Nafzger. "Enjoy him. He's a beautiful animal."
At a mile and a half, the Belmont is the Triple Crown's most grueling test; 10 bids have failed there over the past 30 years. Most recently, Smarty Jones lost a heartbreaker in 2004. At Big Brown's Belmont stall, his big brown (naturally) eyes glow with confidence. His coat shines; he flirts with a filly in the next stall. Aw, heck, how are we supposed to know what the horse is feeling? Best we can do is ask the trainer. "We're going to win the race," Dutrow says.
Copyright (c) 2008 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
Death is part of horse racing
Just as the wild celebration for a potential Triple Crown winner began, the scene Saturday at Churchill Downs got weird and sad. Eight Belles was down after galloping around the clubhouse turn, her front ankles shattered. She had finished second, ahead of 18 colts, while trying to become only the fourth filly to win the Kentucky Derby. There was nothing that could be done, so she was euthanized immediately. As the Derby anthem goes: "Weep no more, my lady. My old Kentucky home, good night."
"After we passed the wire, I stood up," jockey Gabriel Saez said. "She started galloping funny and I tried to pull her up, but she went down."
The horrific breakdown did not diminish Big Brown's brilliant performance, but suddenly he had to share the spotlight with heartbreak. Some considered it the main story, another fatality in a marquee race for a sport still traumatized by the death of 2006 Derby winner Barbaro.
"It's going to have a phenomenal effect on racing," trainer Eoin Harty said. "They'll show it over and over. I don't think we're in position right now to give ourselves any more black eyes."
Predictably, animal rights activists exploited the situation for their own political purposes. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made radical suggestions to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, such as not training thoroughbreds until they are 3, at the earliest. As PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote: "Compassionate people will not tolerate for long a sport whose champions end up lying dead in the dirt."
PETA also decided to crucify Saez, demanding he be suspended pending an inquiry. PETA assumed the filly was hurt in the race and that whipping led to her injury. Not true, said track veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage, but the holier-than-thou crew always demands scapegoats, reality be damned. Why not public floggings on the Preakness telecast for Saez, trainer Larry Jones and owner Rick Porter?
Racing people were shocked, depressed but not surprised, because horses die every day on racetracks. The morning after the Derby, Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow, was asked if anything could be done to help.
"To make it safer, don't train the horses and don't race them," he said. "They take a pounding. They're asked to run and sometimes they're not ready to give it. Horses are always going to break down on the track."
When there's a big-race catastrophe, a few columnists get on their high horse. These self-appointed moral compasses rarely are seen at a track except during the Triple Crown, but the instant experts love to spew shock and outrage over a brutal sport. I just read 800 words of this drivel, the same old phony baloney from a racing know-nothing.
Don't get me wrong, because I'm an animal lover, too. Whenever I see a dog or cat that ended up as road kill, I feel sad. Whenever someone has to put a pet to sleep, I empathize. I'm not a weepy sort, but when my mother called me at college to tell me the family dog had died, I cried. Yet thoroughbreds are not pets. For four centuries they've been selectively bred for one purpose: to run. Weighing more than 1,000 pounds, they go 35 to 40 miles an hour on ankles no bigger than a man's forearm. Their legs are more fragile than the dreams they carry.
The cold, hard truth is that if you want to see thoroughbreds race, some will keel over and die. Sad to say, in the grand scheme of things, these unfortunate victims are considered "acceptable losses," a chilling military euphemism. After Go for Wand was put down after the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Belmont Park, trainer Ron McAnally wept in the winner's circle.
"These animals give their lives for our enjoyment," he said. "It's terrible, terrible. It's part of racing, but it's so sad."
Should high school football be banned because teenagers are paralyzed? Should auto racing be banned because drivers are crippled and killed? That will never happen, because human beings love spectacles. It's a desire hard-wired into our species, so the shows must go on. Always have, and always will. As Walter Cronkite used to say, "And that's the way it is."
Copyright (c) 2008, Newsday Inc.
Bay Meadows crosses the finish line
The end of thoroughbred racing at Bay Meadows Race Track has arrived.
The historic horse-racing venue, built in 1934, will be razed for commercial development later this year. The next week and a half marks the end of the track's final full racing meet.
The closure means the loss of jobs for several hundred track employees. Scores of track workers, bettors, trainers and jockeys are preparing themselves for the passing of a Peninsula tradition. The final races of the spring meet will take place Sunday, May 11. But racing will return for an abbreviated run in August during the San Mateo County Fair.
One of America's favorite horses, Seabiscuit, ran some legendary races at Bay Meadows in 1937 and 1938, said Tom Ferrall, the track's publicity manager. Bill Shoemaker, arguably the greatest jockey of all time, won his first big race at Bay Meadows in 1949, and Triple Crown winner Citation raced at Bay Meadows in 1954, Ferrall said.
In late 2006, Russell Baze became the winningest jockey in North American history at Bay Meadows with more than 10,000 victories.
And the track has other historic milestones to its credit. Bay Meadows was the first track in California to offer night racing, and the first to use the photo finish.
"It's like they're going to tear down Yankee Stadium for a lot of us," said Jeff Johnson, whose father trained horses at Bay Meadows and whose uncle was a jockey here. "There's so much history here. It's just so sad."
Johnson, who trains a couple of horses at Bay Meadows and also loves to place wagers at the track when he's not training, said he isn't sure what lies ahead for him, though he will likely continue to train horses elsewhere.
Many Bay Meadows employees got their jobs from their fathers, uncles and grandfathers, and feel like they grew up at the track.
Some will find work at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, which becomes Northern California's only dedicated site for thoroughbred racing, or the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, where some of Bay Meadows' racing dates will go. A new off-track betting facility at the San Mateo County Event Center will also offer potential work for displaced Bay Meadows employees.
But nothing's for sure, track workers say.
"This is like a death," said BobO'Neill, Bay Meadows' dean of pari-mutuel betting clerks, who handle track wagers. O'Neill has worked at Bay Meadows for 54 years. He has options at Golden Gate Fields and off-track betting sites.
"This is a grand job, and I love it," said O'Neill, who managed a smile despite saying he felt "terrible."
There's no way he'll be around when they bring out the wrecking ball, he said.
"I was born just up the road and watched them build this place," O'Neill said. "Too bad they're taking it down for shopping malls and business. Do we really need more of that?"
Leslie Faulk, who has worked in concessions at Bay Meadows for 30 years, hasn't planned for her future yet. The 50-something Hayward resident is not guaranteed a job at Golden Gate Fields but hopes to get work there and at off-track wagering facilities.
"I don't want to work for minimum wage somewhere," said Faulk, who cherishes the relationships she's developed with regular customers. "I'm not sure what's going to happen. But I might have to start all over again."
Candy Wozniak, 44, of San Mateo has been a cashier, admissions clerk and manager for 25 years at Bay Meadows. Her father was a betting clerk, and she's had uncles, aunts and nephews work at the track. Wozniak's aunt, Irene Ansell of San Mateo, is the longest running employee at Bay Meadows, with 63 years of service.
Ansell, 82, manages the "money room," which handles the proceeds from admissions, parking and program sales.
"I love coming to work, because there's so much excitement and action," Ansell said. "It's not like a desk job."
Ansell lied about her age when she was 19 to get a job at the track, because it was a gambling establishment. She took tickets at the gate, later working her way up to cashier and manager. Ansell will retire, but she feels sorry for the younger workers. For many of them, the reality of the closure is sinking in.
"It's really hitting home now," said Hector Cortes, 43, who has worked 23 years as a janitor at the venue. "They've been talking about closing it so long and never did it. I don't like change. I feel safe in this place."
Magdaleno Maldonado, a parking attendant for 22 years at Bay Meadows, is concerned he'll lose his health care benefits, because he has a disabled daughter.
"The benefits could be lost," Maldonado said. "I'm telling my wife: What am I going to do?"
He too hopes to hook up at the off-betting racing site in San Mateo.
"I'm worried," he said. "A lot of people are out of work, and it's not easy to find a job."
Folks who have been placing wagers on horses at Bay Meadows for years are also deeply saddened. Many see the historic sports venue as something special that separates San Mateo from other cities on the Peninsula.
"I've seen a lot of great horses run around this track," said Ernie Hoff of Mountain View, who first came to Bay Meadows 60 years ago.
Some of those horses include Native Diver, Citation and Swaps, who beat Citation in the Santa Anita Handicap in the 1950s, he said.
"It's hard to believe they're going to close it," said Hoff, a salty 79-year-old. "That's my home ground, the track I always went to."
Hoff will continue to wager on the horses from off-track betting sites in San Jose, Pleasanton, Golden Gate Fields and, he hopes, the Expo Center.
Kirk Paul, 42, of Foster City has been betting on the horses at Bay Meadows for 14 years.
"I'm really going to miss it, especially the Friday night races," Paul said.
Paul studies the Daily Racing Form, and watches the trainers, jockeys and horses closely before placing his bets. He starts with small wagers. But if he wins a race or two, the bets get bigger.
"Especially if I win a few hundred or a thousand dollars," he said. "Then I give it back to the track with bigger bets."
Leopa Hendrickson, 90, of San Bruno has gone to Bay Meadows for more than 50 years.
"It's such a thrill to see those horses run around the track, and you could get so close to the horses and jockeys," said Hendrickson, who used to go to Ladies Day on Thursdays with her husband. "I'll miss that excitement."
One of Hendrickson's prized possessions is a Seabiscuit souvenir she got from the track. She also has an autograph from jockey Russell Baze.
The most she ever won was $100, made on one of her occasional $2 bets.
Many trainers and jockeys are also distressed by the closing of the track.
"I'm a hometown guy — I grew up in San Mateo," said Steve Sherman, a horse trainer like his father, Art Sherman. "It's a horrible feeling. The only option is to race at Golden Gate Fields and Pleasanton."
Trainer William E. Morey of San Mateo said Bay Meadows can't be replaced, while Jockey Russell Baze wishes the closure could be averted.
"I've got a lot of memories here," said Baze, a Woodside resident. "It's close to home."
Jockey Joey Castro lives in San Leandro, so he doesn't mind more racing dates in the East Bay. He had a lot of success in his career as a young jockey at Bay Meadows and hasn't won so much here recently.
"But it's a landmark, and you hate to see it close down," he said.
Copyright 2008 San Jose Mercury News
Derby usually a baffling race, but No. 134 is baffling pre-race
So, as Abbott asked Costello, who's on first?
Approaching the last Saturday of April, according to Rick Dutrow, it's Big Brown.
"He's the fastest horse in the race," Dutrow said of the Florida Derby winner, who has started only three times going into the Kentucky Derby. "We're the horse to beat and I feel confident that we're going to win the race."
Sounds easy.
"I got Curlin beat in this race last year," said Steve Asmussen, who returns to Churchill Downs with two Derby starters and has seen Curlin establish himself in the last 12 months as the best horse on the planet. "I know how hard it is to win."
Eoin Harty has been to Churchill for the Derby several times during the days when he was Bob Baffert's assistant and Baffert ruled the world. He brings the leading West Coast 3-year-old, Colonel John, to this renewal. "In the Derby," Harty said, having experienced the sudden transformation of confidence into disbelief, "anything can happen."
Thirty years have passed since Affirmed won the last Triple Crown, but in those three decades no Kentucky Derby has come together with as little pre-race definition as the 134th. The favorite? Even that remains to be determined on May 3 by the mood of the bettors. Big Brown? Colonel John? Both have wide support. Were it not for one really bad afternoon in Lexington, Pyro would be right there.
The Derby always holds the potential to leave its audience befuddled. Usually, however, this comes in the late stages of the race itself: 50-1 Giacomo runs down 70-1 Closing Argument for a $9,814.80 exacta; the favorite, Empire Maker, fails to get past a New York-bred, Funny Cide, who pays $27.60; the Illinois Derby winner, War Emblem, 20-1, wires a field of 18; Charismatic, once offered in a claiming race with no takers, pops at $64.60 for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, rekindling the memory of Thunder Gulch, $51. Confusion is no more a stranger to the Derby than a longshot winner. But this is different. For everyone not named Dutrow, this Derby defies surprise.
The culling process that began in January, when War Pass was the early favorite and Pyro the main threat, embraces a total of 32 races run over a variety of surfaces real and invented but has served its purpose poorly. The frame is beyond crowded; it's teaming.
War Pass, injured, is no longer in the mix. Asmussen worries both that War Pass' absence will soften the pace for the deep-closing Pyro and that the Blue Grass Stakes was less than the purposeful prep he had envisioned.
"It raised some doubts I didn't have before," Asmussen said.
Almost every prep race has raised doubts and brought new faces to the mix. Monba and Cowboy Cal transformed trainer Todd Pletcher from spectator to major player after finishing 1-2 in the Blue Grass while Pyro, Visionaire, Cool Coal Man, Big Truck and others floundered at Keeneland. Synthetic surfaces in Kentucky and California have only added charcoal the grey areas. Never have so many prominent 3-year-olds run so badly in the same Derby prep as in the latest running of the Blue Grass.
What do you make of that? Or, this?
Larry Jones, who brought runner-up Hard Spun to the last Derby, has two prospects for the 134th, both fillies. It has been 20 years since a filly, Winning Colors, won the Derby -- nine years since a filly has even attempted the first leg of the Triple Crown. Eight Belles and Proud Spell are very good fillies but neither has raced beyond 1 1/16 miles. Larry Jones leans toward the conservative and a decision to run against males would suggest an unusually high regard for a filly's raw ability. Oaks? Derby?
"We don't know," his wife and assistant Cindy Jones said after both fillies worked at Keeneland over the weekend. "The decision will be made at entry time."
Keep 'em guessing.
Another ingredient in this stew: Subtle changes may mean a great deal, or nothing.
Barclay - if I could get there on Saturday morning I would - Tagg, plans to sent Tale of Ekati, winner of the Wood Memorial and his best hope for a second Derby title, to Churchill Downs almost a week before the race, which is entirely out of character. If Larry Jones' considering the prospect of running a filly or two in the Derby is a mild surprise, Tagg arriving in the teeth of the Louisville media maelstrom is almost shocking. In the past, Tagg's Derby horses have not seen the track at Churchill until Friday.
Big Brown's race in the Florida Derby stands out among the many prep races run during the winter and spring. If he fails to translate that effort to 10 furlongs run over a different surface than the one over which he has run two of his three races, almost half this field, running back to their final preps, is within a few lengths with a number of others not far behind. The Derby makes unique demands of a rider and any attempt to get a handle on this race demands an examination of the horse-jockey partnership.
Edgar Prado, considered an array of options until, pressed for a decision, he chose to ride Adriano, whose connections waffled between the Derby and something else on grass until last week, when the colt, who has not raced since the Lane's End in March, handled the ground at Churchill in a workout to the satisfaction of trainer Graham Motion, a trainer not known for susceptibility to Derby fever. Prado and agent Bob Frieze make few mistakes. This says something about Adriano not evident in the past-performance lines.
Dutrow, sequestered with Big Brown in Florida, says he is confident that the colt's hoof problems are a thing of the past. Perhaps. There is no shortage of Big Brown fans willing to make the leap of faith necessary to back a horse going into the Derby after having raced only three times. Some -- many -- believe that they have sufficient evidence to conclude that Big Brown is the next true superstar. Speaking on their behalf, Dutrow said: "You're looking at something here where talent will make up for [lack of] experience."
Or, not.
Copyright (c)2008 ESPN Internet Ventures.
Tale of Ekati captures Wood Memorial
NEW YORK - The horse is named for a diamond mine, and now Tale of Ekati has his owner thinking of roses in May.
Tale of Ekati caught a tiring War Pass in the final six strides and won the $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday, giving owner Charles Fipke a chance to compete in his first Kentucky Derby.
"Winning this race is like finding the first diamond," said Fipke, an acclaimed Canadian geologist who owns a diamond exploration company. "He's named for our diamond mine in Ekati, up in the Northwest Territory. I'm still in a daze. This is wonderful; of course he had to beat a great horse in War Pass."
Winning trainer Barclay Tagg now has another Derby contender to go with Big Truck, who handed War Pass the first loss of his career three weeks ago in the Tampa Bay Derby.
In other races
*Colonel John wins Santa Anita Derby - Colonel John added to his credentials as the West Coast's top 3-year-old when he rallied late in the stretch to win the Santa Anita Derby.
Striding smoothly and strongly when jockey Corey Nakatani asked him to turn it on, Colonel John blew past pacesetter Coast Guard and then pulled ahead of Bob Black Jack near the wire to win by a a half-length. Coast Guard held on for third, another length behind.
*Golden Spikes upset at Illinois Derby - Recapture the Glory overcame 15-to-1 odds to beat heavily favored Denis of Cork and easily outdistance a seven-horse field at the $500,000 Illinois Derby.
The Illinois Derby is a prep race for next month's Kentucky Derby, with six previous Illinois winners entering the prestigious Triple Crown race.
chron.com
Big Brown delivered the goods
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Since 2005, not many horses have won from post 12 at Gulfstream Park. In fact, you can't even count them on one hand, because the amount has been a big fat zero. That's until last Saturday, when Big Brown came home a decisive five-length winner in the Florida Derby.
Not only did the son of Boundary overcome a disastrous post to cross the wire first, he did so with a flair reserved for the greats of the game. Breaking from the 12th hole, jockey Kent Desormeaux seized the lead approaching the backstretch, but not before going four-wide in a fast 22 3/5 first quarter.
It's true that Gulfstream Park favors speed, but not many three-year-olds have run as swift as did this horse. The final time for the nine furlongs was 1:48, just two-fifths of a second off the track record.
Big Brown will easily be the first or second choice in the Kentucky Derby, and may very well be the most talented three-year-old later in the season. However, there's a big difference between the spring and the summer - just ask Curlin. The recent Dubai World Cup winner also went into Kentucky with only three lifetime starts under his belt, and was a well-beaten third to Street Sense.
For those getting ready to anoint Big Brown the new champ, be advised that only one of 16 horses in the history of the Derby has won with just three career past performances, and that victory came all the way back in 1915.
One aspect of Big Brown's breathtaking presentation that will most likely be overlooked was how poorly he ran through the lane, bearing out at the onset of the stretch drive and then continually ducking in after repeated left-hand whips from Desormeaux. That alone is cause for concern, but there are other factors that will prevent Big Brown from picking up the winner's check in the Run for the Roses.
Experience plays a huge role in the Derby, and that is something he will not have come May 3. In addition, it's extremely doubtful he will be able to rate off the pace in the Derby and that alone will compromise his chances, especially if War Pass returns to form in the Wood Memorial.
Big Brown's soundness will also come into question, as his foot problems have been well-documented throughout the spring. Also, the fact that he will not have another prep is a disturbing signal. Only one other horse in the history of the Run for the Roses has won off a five-week layoff, and that was Barbaro. In order for him to win at Churchill Downs, he will have to be a combination of Curlin and Barbaro, and call me a fool, but I doubt Big Brown is in that class just yet.
Another factor that most handicappers have overlooked is how fast the track was playing that afternoon. Less than one hour later, Electrify won the Forever Whirl Stakes in 1:47 4/5, a tick faster than Big Brown.
Don't get me wrong, he could, and probably will, be a major player later on, maybe even in time for the Preakness, but to think he will win the Kentucky Derby, especially at 3-1 or less, is ludicrous.
Smooth Air, the second-place finisher in the Florida Derby will also head to Churchill Downs, but it's unclear whether Tomcito will run in the Derby. Despite a solid third-place finish in his first race in over four months, he still bled even with Lasix. The Belmont Stakes has always been his connection's number one priority, and they may indeed prep him in New York for the third leg of racing's Triple Crown rather than sending him to Kentucky.
THIS WEEK'S PREPS
Three races this Saturday will separate the studs from the duds. Let's start in the Wood Memorial, where War Pass looks to rebound from his very forgettable Tampa Bay Derby. The two-year-old champ bounced back with a bullet four-furlong workout last Thursday, so a much-improved performance is in the cards.
Court Vision returns to the wars after running third in the Fountain of Youth. Trainer Bill Mott did not want him to peak too early in the spring so not much was expected at Gulfstream Park on February 24. Still, despite lagging in last place at the half, the son of Gulch blew past nine horses the rest of the way to nail the show spot. He may not win the Wood, but expect him to improve and be ready to strut his stuff for real in Kentucky.
Others expected to race at Aqueduct are Texas Wildcatter and Giant Moon, second and last, respectively, in the Gotham Stakes, and Tale of Ekati, who finished a dismal sixth to Pyro in the Louisiana Derby.
The choice here is War Pass to get back on track winning at nine panels, with Court Vision running second and Giant Moon third.
The Santa Anita Derby could have been the most contentious of the three races, but with the defection of San Felipe winner Georgie Boy, it leaves a rematch of the top two finishers from the Sham Stakes in Colonel John and El Gato Malo.
(Georgie Boy pulled a muscle in his back in a workout last Saturday and will miss the entire Triple Crown.)
The Sham was a five-horse race and a very slow-paced event at that. Colonel John was pressing Victory Pete for the lead through a half-mile of 50 seconds flat. El Gato Malo was in tight quarters on the rail the entire race until the field reached the top of the stretch. Colonel John put away Victory Pete at the 1/8 pole to grab the lead, but he certainly wasn't running in a straight path as El Gato Malo swung wide to make his stretch run.
Colonel John barely held on to win by a half-length over the "Bad Cat." Look for David Flores, El Gato Malo's jockey, to keep his horse clear of trouble in this race and turn the tables on the "Colonel" to win the Santa Anita Derby.
I still don't think either of these two horses has a chance in Kentucky, since neither has ever run on a dirt track. Still, it should be an exciting rematch between California's two best three-year-olds.
Yankee Bravo, who ran third in the LA Derby, is the only horse capable of pulling off an upset, but look for the son of Yankee Gentleman to be too far back early to threaten the top two choices.
The Illinois Derby at Hawthorne is the final important prep that takes place this Saturday. Denis of Cork, the expected heavy favorite, will be looking for his fourth straight victory, after taking the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on February 18.
His unbeaten record notwithstanding, he's certainly not a lock to win this race. His trainer, David Carroll, withdrew him from the Rebel Stakes to ensure he will not peak well before the Kentucky Derby. It was an extremely risky move, as Denis of Cork will only have four races under his belt heading to Churchill Downs.
It also raises the question of how fit he will be for the Illinois Derby, since the intention of his trainer was to not have him run "the race of his life" in the race prior to the Derby. And folks, this will be his last prep before the Run for the Roses.
Given that, along with the fact that Atoned is also entered in the Illinois Derby, it's entirely possible that Denis of Cork will not win this Saturday. Atoned is the more experienced horse, with eight career starts including a pair of second place finishes to Big Truck in the Tampa Bay Derby and Court Vision in the Remsen.
Todd Pletcher was in awe of how Atoned filled out over the winter and the horse came back a little short in his three-year-old debut. With a 2008 race already behind him, look for a much-improved effort, one that will put him in front at the wire in the Illinois Derby.
Also entered in the grade two stakes event is Z Humor. The bay colt could be a factor on a brief layoff after running two races in a span of nine days back in late February. Favored in the Sam F. Davis, the son of Distorted Humor actually led at the three-quarter pole, but faded to fifth, beaten five lengths. He then finished fourth in the Fountain of Youth eight days later.
THE TOP 10 LIST WITH FINAL POOL 2 ODDS
Big Brown makes a huge move up the ladder from a tie for 10th place last week, but I am extremely hesitant to place him in the top two based on all the hype. As I stated earlier, he could very well be the best of the bunch during the summer, but this list deals solely with the Kentucky Derby and I do not expect him to win on the first Saturday in May.
1) Pyro, 4-1; 2) Court Vision, 16-1; 3) Big Brown, 6-1 - field; 4) Atoned, 6-1 - field; 5) Denis of Cork, 12-1; 6) Visionaire, 19-1; 7) War Pass, 9-2; 8) Colonel John, 17-1; 9) El Gato Malo, 15-1; 10-T) Tomcito, 6-1 - field, Yankee Bravo, 41-1 and Big Truck 6-1 - field
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Paint horse Got Country Grip wins 16th straight race
OKLAHOMA CITY: As he exited the starting gate Thursday night in an allowance race at Remington Park, Got Country Grip stumbled, and for a moment, the star paint horse's connections thought all might be lost.
But Got Country Grip recovered under jockey G.R. Carter and pulled away in the stretch for his 16th straight win, equaling a modern North American all-breeds record.
The win tied the 5-year-old gelding with four thoroughbreds, including 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation and North America's leading money winner, Cigar, two racing greats. Hallowed Dreams and Mister Frisky also won 16 in a row.
The modern world record for consecutive wins is 17, held by another thoroughbred, Hong Kong-based Silent Witness. Got Country Grip's trainer, Brandon Parum of Jones, said his unbeaten horse will try to match that mark at Remington Park on April 19.
"To be in the company of those kinds of horses is pretty special," said Carter, a 22-year riding veteran.
"I knew what was on the line. But no matter how much pressure you feel or no matter what's on the line, you still have to do the things you are trained to do. You've got to do all the same things you've got to do to win any race."
Carter had to rely on his depth of experience during the race's initial strides, as Got Country Grip stumbled as the horse's front feet hit the ground for the first time coming out of the gate.
"You've just got to ride through it and try to get them back on their feet and keep their forward momentum going," Carter said. "That's what he's good at — that forward momentum down that race track. He's a phenomenal animal. You can look at him, his demeanor and the way he carries himself. He's got it. He's something special. He knows it, too."
Got Country Grip recovered sufficiently to win the $15,000 race for paints and appaloosas by three-quarter of a length over Bust N Moves, with Boy of Summer third in the seven-horse field.
"The ground came out from underneath him ... but he went right on," Parum said. "It wasn't terrible, but it was enough to get a lot of horses beat."
The Oklahoma-bred Got Country Grip is 16-for-16 lifetime for Parum and owner Jimmy Maddux of Weatherford, Texas, including 7-for-7 at Remington Park. He went off at 1-5 odds and covered the 350 yards in 17.701 seconds, aided by a 20 mph tail wind.
"I just do the best I can with him," Parum said.
He paid $2.60, $2.60 and $2.10. Bust N Moves returned $4.40 and $2.80, while Boy of Summer paid $4.20 to show. Jess Streakin, Calista Corona, Braggin Rights and Check This Treat rounded out the field.
The winner's prize of $10,078 raised Got Country Grip's lifetime earnings to $257,578.
The win did little initially to ease the mind of Maddux, a longtime cattle rancher. Moments after Got Country Grip crossed the finish line, he held out a shaking hand to greet a friend.
"I'm still nervous. My heart's still aflutter," Maddux said.
Maddux entered horse racing when he bought two horses at the suggestion of Parum in 1996. He later traded one of those horses for Got Country Grip.
"When you make a trade like that, you don't have any idea that it's going to work out that good," Maddux said. "I've made a lot of trades in my life ... but I've never made a trade this good."
Got Country Grip is the rare paint horse that has no spots, but he qualifies as a paint because his dam, Got A Grip, was a full paint horse. His sire, Country Quick Dash, is registered as both a quarter horse and a paint horse.
Citation won 16 straight races from 1948-50. Mister Frisky, who raced in Puerto Rico before coming to the U.S., won 16 straight in 1989 and 1990 before the streak ended in the Kentucky Derby.
Cigar matched the record from 1994-96 and retired with earnings of $9,999,815. Hallowed Dreams won 16 straight races in 1999 and 2000. In Europe, another thoroughbred, Ribot, went 16-for-16 in a career that spanned from 1954 to 1956.
Silent Witness' streak lasted from December 2002 through April 2005. He was retired in February 2007.
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