War Pass in the Tampa Bay Derby/Big Brown in the Belmont

[Keith]

Horses are not unbeatable as we saw with War Pass and Big Brown. Everyone talked about Big Brown had that extra gear once he hit the stretch. One race and everyone jumps off the Big Brown bandwagon. Now Big Brown has to prove more by running againsts better competition and run more often. If he retires today he will be looked as an unruly horse with bad feet and a weak pedigree to boot and now he needs to prove himself. Big Brown would be more suited for breeding in Europe with Danzig on the top and Nureyev on the bottom. His pedigree is way to weak to justify $100,000 stud fee unless he proves he is one of the best horses to have come along in a long time. The owners got there overpriced price tag out of him so they did not have much to lose racing in the Belmont. Three Chimneys was fools to pay so much for Big Brown and one bad race does not mean he will not go on to be a great stud. No one ever expected Sunday Silence to be a great stud.

War Pass on the other had is by a useful sire in Cherokee Run. War Pass could very well go on to be a much better sire than Big Brown but who knows. War Pass was the dominating two year old and supposedly unbeatable in the Tampa Bay Derby which was nothing like last years Tampa Bay Derby with Street Sense and Any Given Saturday. Curlin showed up in every race eventhough he lost to Street Sense in the Derby and to a filly in Rags to Riches in the Belmont. Curlin may have gotten beat by a filly but he did run second in the Belmont and went on to win the Breeder's Cup Classic and Horse of The Year. Anyone remember Sea Hero who won the Kentucky Derby and he was out of one of the greatest mares that ever lived in Glowing Tribute. He was by a Danzig stallion in Polish Navy so will Big Brown out of a much weaker mare be a better stallion than Sea Hero. He likely will be a better stallion but who really knows. Big Brown may not be as good of runner as Alysheba who wound up standing in Turkey along with Sea Hero. Big Brown is not even in the same league as Spectacular Bid who wound up standing for $3500. Big Brown has alot to prove to even be in the same league as a horse like Spectacular Bid. It is a disgrace to compare Big Brown to Barry Bonds because it is not Big Brown's fault that his trainer races him on steroids which is another issue all together. Big Brown is not a machine with an extra gear and we expect these horses to give their all every time. He had an off day as he was very calm in the post parade, unruly after he broke from the gate getting in traffic running all over the place and that extra gear was not there. Big Brown is a very nice horse regardless of his cocky trainer and his weak pedigree. Personally I would love to see Big Brown prove us all wrong by winning more big races with a trainer who has class not telling the world his client's horse is far superior. So much of the Belmont coverage was on Dutrow's bouts with drugs and how he likes to party hard. I just wish more coverage was on the people who really make these horses great like the breeders, grooms, exercise riders, and the people who are with theses horses every day. There needs to be more kickback in purses going back to the breeders besides the state bred programs. It costs so much to raise a colt and the little guy can't afford to stay in breeding the way the economy is today. Some trainers really work hard side by side with their horses and there are others who just supervise and oversee the operation. I can not really judge where Dutrow fits but he should know there are know guarantees in horse racing especially after the Belmont performance. It was nice to see Zito win after not getting War Pass to the classic races. Zito sure showed more class than Dutrow eventhough his horse is not near the horse Big Brown is but Da' Tara was the best horse on Belmont Day.

Keith