So, Big Brown, since the Belmont Stakes catastrophe, has been life and death to beat Coal Play in the Haskell Invitational and Proudinsky in the counterfeit accommodation staged on Saturday at Monmouth Park. This guarantees that he will be New Jersey Horse of the Year but does nothing to define the animal or, as one observer noted, force Curlin’s connections to reconsider their late-season plans that do not at the moment include the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
To his credit, Big Brown has gotten the job done while being campaigned in profoundly ordinary company. Still, merely getting the job done under the circumstances – the horses he barely beat on Saturday are at best Grade 3 caliber -- comes up a tad short of the far-too-flattering light in which he has been portrayed by his admirers. Undoubtedly, Big Brown is a very talented horse but in the big picture he has not been particularly impressive since May while his flimflam artist connections have chosen to pass every situation in which he fragile feet would be held to the fire.
Actually, the ungraded stakes at Monmouth places Big Brown at a decided disadvantage if his people were attempting to position him to win the Horse of the Year title. If Curlin wins the Jockey Club Gold Cup, he need not run again regardless of what happens at Santa Anita. He would have completed an undefeated season on dirt that began with Dubai Gold Cup ended with a second Jockey Club Gold Cup title and with the exception of a prep at Nad Al Sheba embraced only Grade I races of established prestige including a turf-course experiment from which he emerged Grade I placed. He will also, not insignificantly, end the season as the sport’s all-time leading money winner.
There is no requirement for Curlin, widely regarded the best horse in the world on dirt, to prove himself. The onus was on Big Brown and he declined the Woodward and Gold Cup, both appropriate appointments for a three-year-old with something to prove. If you aspire to be king, it is necessary to depose the monarch. --PM
Monday, September 15, 2008
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9 comments:
Paul, I find it an interesting analogy to the whole Big Brown debate that, in describing Big Brown's rivals in the Monmouth Stakes, you call them "at best Grade 3...", Grening at DRF refers to them as "very talented and accomplished", Steve Crist calls them "...nice Grade 2 horses" and other sources I read and respect rate them somewhere between plodders and champions. Will there ever be a consensus on BB's ability unless all concerned parties meet in a race somewhere, sometime? And, obviously, isn't that race the BC Classic? AJV
All due respect, if Curlin passes on the BC and Big Brown wins, he'll have won 5 Grade 1's this year, including the Derby, Preakness and BC Classic. Curlin will have won 4, one of which was on a different continent, another of which was over a turf horse. Curlin won't win this vote. Heck, he may even finish behind Zenyatta.
Big Brown is a fraud. He ran at Monmouth because there is no detention barn there and the competition and money were right.
Shakis is a nice horse but he is 8 and hasn't won a race outside of Saratoga in over a year. Proudinsky is ok, nothing special.
Now getting back to the cheats, what is the deal with the BB stud deal. DId Three CHimney's only buy 5% of him? If so, what does that mean? IS IEAH still looking to sell the other 95%?
Paul:
Notwithstanding the two postings praising Big Brown herein (obviously from SEC-hating, penny-stock loving pushers), any right thinking horse racing fan can see that Curlin is the Horse of the Year. Big Brown's race reminded me of another Derby winner, Spend A Buck, owned by another financier who believed the nation's laws did not apply to him or his shell of a company, to wit, First Jersey Securities. Just like Bob Brennan in 1985, IEAH's imitation of a frightened turtle did nothing to enhance their horse's reputation, let alone theirs.
The Eclipse voters may feel pressured to anoint the BC synthetic winner as a champion, but those of us who know better, will always understand that a "true" champion displays his mettle at Belmont Park. Otherwise, Kelso, Forego, Secretariat, Slew and all the others will have raced in vain.
"All due respect, if Curlin passes on the BC and Big Brown wins"
What would make you think Big Brown would win the BC? If Col. John wins the BC, BB may not even win teh eclipse for 3 year old colt, forget about the HOY. And Zenyatta will lose to Hystericalady.
BB is a WINNER & should be UNDEFEATED...we will take a few just like him...Long Live COMMON CENTS!!!...& the DIRT!!!
Doc:
Actually, I don't think he'll win the BC Classic; I think he'll be a terrific bet-against. My point remains the same though: IF he wins the BC Classic, he's HOTY. I can't see how one could vote for Curlin over him at that juncture, and while I'd love to see Zenyatta run the table and get some votes, it's just not likely that she'll get enough support for HOTY (again, IF she wins).
And for the other commenter, I personally can't stand IEAH or any of their principals---they're crook and scam artists. That fact, though, is irrelevant in determining the horse's accomplishments. I'm also not sure I agree that modern day racing requires one to show their mettle at Belmont to be HOTY; Charismatic, Tiznow and Azeri certainly didn't, and if it's fall Belmont racing you're referring to, neither did Point Given or Invasor.
Big Brown has as much chance as beating Curlin as Mike Iavarone has of playing pro-baseball. Sure, if you listen to the IEAH crew, and their personal publicist Eddie Newsday, you would have though taht not only was Mike Iavarone a top picthing prospect but Big Brown already dusted Curlin in a match race becuase he lost to a girl and lost on the grass.
What a crew.
I don't undrstand all the negativity aimed at Big Brown. While I believe Curlin is the better horse, and deserves HOTY if he wins both the JCGC and the Clark no matter what anyone else does or doesn't do, I also think BB the horse deserves respect; as does his trainer's ability to win big races.
Given his front-running victory on turf, it wouldn't surprise me to see Big Brown win a Curlinless Classic, but I look forward to getting a good price on a synthetic specialist if he [BB] actually runs. To the commenter who fears that past champions will have run in vain, please help ensure that the efforts of Filly Friday girlcotters avoid that decsription.
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