The Big Brown Sellout--BB will not race past 3 y.o. season

[dray33]

Big Brown is a walking billboard that I'm a sucker.

Sorry if I wont be rooting for Big Brown, he's a horse and of course has done nothing wrong. His connections are another story. Ill preface this by saying, they have done nothing illegal. Actually they are today's poster child of racing to win. The sport has become less about people who really care about the long term health of the thoroughbred. It's about winning today, and looking at the overall picture is so damned antiquated. I'm a washed-up throwback (I'm gonna buy me a '49 Mercury ).

Using steroids is LEGAL. Dutrow knows it. "I give all my horses Winstrol on the 15th of every month," Dutrow says. "If they (the authorities) say I can't use it anymore I won't.". He is being honest. IEAH wants to win. They are an investment company. They are a horse hedge fund. They invested millions and are going to make tens of millions now. The horse wont race at 4 years old. Why should it? They are doing something right (and yet I can't help but think very wrong).

So sorry, but although I wish the best for the horse, the people around him are a glowing tribute to my weakness, my stupidity, so it' hard to root for BIG BROWN. Level playing feild? They show me how its done in todays world, the way the game is played. They could give a rat's ass about good intent (why should they). Instant gratification. Steroids might be bad for the sport, maybe the decade by decade abuse of drugs and medications are weakening the breed, but TODAY you are allowed to use them, and by doing so, improve your chances at a big pile of money. If you chose not to, guess what, you're the sucker. And they are right, I am the sucker here. If I want to win more races, maybe I need to hire a trainer that uses steroids. If I want to compete, I guess I should be using every advantage legal to make my horses run. But isn't that wrong? Maybe I'm the fool on the hill. I sure feel that way.

Sound like sour grapes? It is. The sport is no longer kind to those who love the horse. You had better love the business.

[oliverstoned]

Best case senario Big Brown follows Point Given's stud career path.
Go Hey Byrn!!!! and then go Casino Drive!!!!!

[Lisann]

Very disappointing news, though not that much of a suprise.

Makes one appreciate the continued racing of Curlin that much more.

I think I'm hoping for a gelding to be the next TC winner, so he'll have a long and storied career.

[xfactor fan]

And this is different than what happened with Secretariat in what way?

[TBG]

They are similar in that both horses retired at 3. The motives are entirely different. Penny Chenery only had Secretariat syndicated to save the family farm. Her father had just passed away and a huge amount of inheritance taxes were owed. Seth Hancock had to work extremely hard to put the syndicate together. I would guess that had the circumstances been different, Secretariat would have raced longer. The connections were very sad that his race career ended. Only time will tell; but I can’t imagine Big Brown being compared to Secretariat in any other way.

[DDT]

dray33

You breed your mares and offer the foals for sale, if they fail to bring their reserve you keep them, if one of those horses demonstrated through performance that you were offered 20 or 30 million, how is that different from selling as a yearling for profit? Would you turn down the offers and continue to race and then stand the horse yourself? Ifyou breed for the commercial market profit is your number one concern, if it was not you would sell at any price and move on to the next year.

Why sould anybody care what the owners decide to do with Big Brown. With all of the negatives surrounding his trainer and owners, even if he does manage to win the Triple Crown there will be people who say it was because Dutrow cheats and gets away with it, or he was the best of a poor crop, anything to discredit him, it is not a win win situation for racing as a whole, so why should any fan be upset that Big Brown will not race as a 4 year old. All of you keep saying that what racing needs is a Triple Crown winner to bring in new fans, I'm afraid that if Big Brown wins the Triple Crown it could actually drive more fans away from the sport.

I personally do not care what they do with him, I think he is certainly the best of this crop to date, and I for one would love to see him win the Preakness and Belmont and remain undefeated. I do not like it that he will be retired as a 3 year old, but if I was lucky enough to own him you can believe he would be for sale to the highest bidder.

DDT

[AscotStud]

The problem isn't the owners selling the horse to stud. The problem is that the Stud Farm (Three Chimneys) will not let him run at 4. They have nothing to gain. The stud farms are more to blame than the owners. The problem is, that owners these days don't have balls, and sell out as soon as their horse does anything of note.

[dray33]

DDT: Let's make no mistake. I would have done exactly what they did, if I had a valuable horse (one that won the Kentucky Derby, let's say) and got offered 20 million or whatever for my horse. They did it perfectly. I am not arguing the means.

I am talking about the ends that justify them. We need to outlaw or regulate steroids, so that I too can participate in the sport, AND feel as if I have a shot, a level playing field. After all, I spend my money just like the next guy, the only thing is... If I am going to race clean, I don't want to compete against 'roided horses.

[DDT]

dray33

You make it sound like Big Brown was the only horse on roids, and infer that they helped him romp. Could be you are right, but as of this time it was not illegal to be on them. I agree with you, I think all race day medications should be banned and the cheaters banned for life, but what are the odds that track management would support that, they already cannot fill race cards.

DDT

[Coaltown]

The problem isn't the owners selling the horse to stud. The problem is that the Stud Farm (Three Chimneys) will not let him run at 4. They have nothing to gain. The stud farms are more to blame than the owners. The problem is, that owners these days don't have balls, and sell out as soon as their horse does anything of note.

Where do you people get this stuff? It's not the farm's decision whether he runs at 4. The owners are in the driver's seat, sitting back and laughing while the offers come fast and furious from the farms scrambling to scoop up stallion prospects. If you want the horse to race at 4 so badly, then YOU pay the enormous insurance premium. And then YOU face the media abuse (including discussion groups like this) that criticize your every move, no matter what you do. If you race him at 4, then you're risking the horse's life and limb unnecessarily in the name of what? Sport? Purse money? See, it's a no-win situation. If you race and he gets injured or worse, you're inhumane. If he races and loses, you're an idiot and he's a pig. No matter when you retire him, you get blamed for being greedy by exploiting him thru a stud career. Put your self in the same situation and it's not such an easy call.

[zinn21]

Last time I looked it was a free country and a relatively free market. They have the right to sell and not race. It would be nice to see BB run as a 4 yold, particularly if he runs the table this year, but I respect their right and decision to sell.

The whole BB steroids issue is blown way out of proportion. If you think steroids give BB an extremely high cruising speed and another gear to blow away a Derby field down the lane, can I interest you in the Brooklyn Bridge?

[tmacew]

to me the issue is not who has a right to do, or not do, anything. IEAH certainly has a right to sell to whomever they want. As did Mr. Pompa. And the stud farms have the right to buy, and take a financial risk, on whoever they want.

The problem, or rather issue, for the sport as a whole is that the actors in industry are operating purely as speculators. No one is naive enough to think that money has never been the prime motivator of the sport. Clearly it has. But it appears as though rather than doing things to improve the breed and the sport, and in so doing achieving a "pay day", many are now operating with the "pay day" in mind from the outset.

the result is that we have become a sport of speculation. To my simple mind it is eerily similar to the housing market. One can look to buy a house and do their due diligence;find a good neighborhood, with a number of bedrooms, good school system, etc, etc; and hope that their purchase, when they are ready to sell will net them a profit. One can even buy many properties that make good financial sense; but act as a good steward and keep in the back of their mind that at some point they may able to make a profit.

Or, one can buy houses on spec, throw some new counters in the kitchen, paint the rooms, and try to walk away with a 100% mark up after 6 months.

Both scenarios are legal. But one is speculative and one is done for what many might consider to be more "pure" motives. Being "pure" doesnt mean being financially silly.

I dont believe there is anything wrong with those who want to view this as a speculative sport. But I personally would like to see the sport reward those who are involved for other more "pure" reasons.

[freshman]

Very disappointing news, though not that much of a suprise.

Makes one appreciate the continued racing of Curlin that much more.

I think I'm hoping for a gelding to be the next TC winner, so he'll have a long and storied career.

I agree. Like you, I am a fan and I am interested in the horses and racing as a sport. The practice of retiring horses early leaves me cold and bored. Not much left to keep me interested in the game.

I do appreciate that racing is business enterprise. Selling out early is financially lucrative. It would sound good for me to say that I would never do this even in the face of so much money...but I can't say that. I've never been in the position, so I don't know what I'd do, honestly, so I'll skip the sound byte.

I will say that it seems that there is little sport left in horseracing. Horses are not run for pleasure or purses, even though horses at this level regularly earn millions. The interest now is have a horse that will get the most money--this is the goal--not to have the best horse, the fastest horse, or a great horse. And horses make more money by being sold and syndicated rather than raced. But it's not very special.

[dray33]

You make it sound like Big Brown was the only horse on roids, and infer that they helped him romp. Could be you are right, but as of this time it was not illegal to be on them. I agree with you, I think all race day medications should be banned and the cheaters banned for life, but what are the odds that track management would support that, they already cannot fill race cards.

I would guess they are all on 'roids, DDT. I don't know for sure. I know BIG BROWN is. And yes, it's 100% legal. Until it isn't, doubt I'll ever have a horse there. A dream sometimes remains a dream. I don't think banning drugs would hurt race cards one bit. I am more affected by races I want not being written. But that's another story.

My hope is that all horses run equally, and the best rise to the top. Add to that: I can imagine a day when the best "pure" horses go into the breeding sheds. And the breed is elevated, instead of diminished.

[dray33]

The whole BB steroids issue is blown way out of proportion. If you think steroids give BB an extremely high cruising speed and another gear to blow away a Derby field down the lane, can I interest you in the Brooklyn Bridge?

Well never know, will we? And maybe all horses should be pumped with steroids. Maybe, since it's legal, it should be used. I personally think it helps the horse (extra gear, extra speed, muscle, whatever) just like baseball players said it helped them. Personally, I say it is one of the most damaging things we allow in the sport (the only sport where this type of drug use is perfectly legal it seems).