Home > Furman Bisher > Archives > 2008 > June > 07 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAn unexpected result at Belmont
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sometimes I think I know horse racing. Never have I been so sure that we had finally had a Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes. This was Big Brown’s day. His year. He would join Secretariat in immortality. There was no fail in him. Maybe I felt that strong about Majestic Prince, but that was so long ago, who could remember? That was 1969. But even Majestic Prince came closer than Big Brown. Never has such an odds-on favorite ever finished last in such a monumental race.
First, I didn’t like his post position. Big Brown likes the outside, not the pole. You may have noticed, he had to take up twice before he found clearance on the turn. Then you said, “OK, that’s all he needs. Open space. Desormeaux could set his pace. This is just where they want to be.” Then, nothing happened. Big Brown began to look like a tourist in town. It was like reading a novel in which the hero gets killed. He just sat there, and you couldn’t believe what you were seeing.
I didn’t feel sorry for Rich Dutrow, his trainer. He has made so few admirers through Big Brown’s big run that it wasn’t easy to like the horse. But horses can’t choose their friends.
Maybe Dutrow thought Big Brown could win on three legs. Or maybe he really believed that the crack in his hoof was no more than the average guy’s hangnail. You have to believe, though, that this was Dutrow’s big play, and he had no intention of passing on it just because Big Brown had an aching hoof. What all this does is take away whatever glory Da’ Tara might have reaped in such a glorious scene.
Earlier in the day I’d seen Alan Garcia, the jockey, win a race on one of Nick Zito’s horses, and I’d thought, “What if this turns out to be an indicator of what’s to come later?” Had no idea such a crashing disaster might happen. He had done it before with Birdstone, Mary Lou Whitney’s horse that crashed Funny Cide’s party, but to take down Big Brown with a horse with a slash in his name? A total four-legged stranger?
I’ve seen upsets before, but this was even bigger than the upset that the horse named Upset dumped on us. I’m still going to have to sleep on it.
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Comments
By Keith Simpson
June 7, 2008 10:02 PM | Link to this
I don’t in any way blame Big Brown or Mr. Dutrow for the result of the race. After reviewing the race a few times, the real problem was very clear. THE JOCKEY!!! I have been an avid horse race fan for a long time, living in Kentucky, and I have never seen a more poorly ridden race in my life. Big Brown was ready to the Nth degree and to see Desormeaux put him in that kind of trouble was almost criminal. I like Desormeaux but there is no fault that should be placed anywhere but on his shoulders. I guess Desormeaux should stay “Real Quiet” after this lastest disaster!!
By tvnewsbadge
June 7, 2008 10:03 PM | Link to this
Maybe I’ll have to eat these words, but as things stand right now, I say the jockey Kent Desormeaux gets my vote for hero of the day for the day he cared for Big Brown when it was clear something was wrong.
TvNB
By John Fritschner
June 7, 2008 10:05 PM | Link to this
Bingo. Perfect hit. Dutrow was a snob and a bore but he still had a great horse who was not up to the task at hand. Great commentary.
By Paula
June 7, 2008 10:39 PM | Link to this
This was not the jockey’s fault. The horse didn’t look right. It was obvious he was having problems. I think between the hoof, being off Winstrol, and running two races of a lifetime just several weeks apart, were enough to keep him off his game. He’s not a machine and theses horses are not being bred for stamina anymore, which is a major issue if you are trying to win a triple crown.
By Allie
June 7, 2008 11:37 PM | Link to this
I definitely don’t think the jockey has anything to do with how this horse placed. He did a fabulous job and did the right thing, slowing the horse instead of pushing him when there was obviously something ‘off’ with the horse.
My personal opinion? A mix of the heat, lack of training a few days before (due to the hoof issue) and being taken off the steroid.
I don’t think that the hoof had anything to do with it really. That horse was sound.
By taking a horse off of a steroid they have become dependent on, the horse ‘crashed’. They loose muscle, conditioning, etc coming off of a steroid.
I don’t think trainer/owner/whoever researched that well enough before taking the horse off. They were too into trying to prove that he didn’t need the drug.
By A Fan
June 7, 2008 11:38 PM | Link to this
Birdstone beat Smarty Jones in the Belmont, not Funny Cide.
By The Big Bug
June 7, 2008 11:38 PM | Link to this
Sounds like you took a bath at the window,Furm. I know how you can win it all back. Bet on UGA to win the NC. That’s the ticket!
By BarrelRacer
June 8, 2008 12:04 AM | Link to this
I really think Big Brown was p** off! P** off because he wasn’t allowed to run and then he was allowed to get into a traffic jam and may have taken a blow to his front legs. I am very glad that Kent went ahead and pulled him up as there was no point in taking the chance that something was seriously wrong.
By richbrave
June 8, 2008 12:11 AM | Link to this
OR cash in by buying brk a low and sell high. The horse with the small withers still rocks.
By joe delgado
June 8, 2008 12:13 AM | Link to this
Next week BIG BROWN will be diagnosed with a breathing obstruction that caused inflamation and bleeding of his lungs. This is normally treated with medication,and the horse can at least finish the race. Except, Big Brown missed his May 15th steroid injection because his handlers stated “He doesn’t need steroids to win.” Well, obviously he needed the extra boost today the medication have provided him in the past.
I believe Big Brown should have waited another month to just say NO! to drugs joe
By hyponic
June 8, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this
It seems clear to me that the Jockey had his sweet deat with Hooters taken away from him and he took the race away from Big Brown. He might have been doing it for the spite of it or he might have had a cut of the take. If someone bet 100K on each of the other horses the worst payout would have been a six hundered thousand profit. Give a part of that to the Jockey to make up for the Hooters endorsement that was taken away from him and you can see how something like this could happen.
This was a great chance for a fix. With the odds so in favor of one horse and only nine horses in the race, it could have been an easy fix. I am not saying it happened, but it could have.
By sharon
June 8, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this
Shame on you Kent Desmormeaux!!!How much did it take for you to sell out that magnificent animal. It was blatanly obvious that horse was hungry and eager to run and you got him in a jam, kicked and then made the laughing stock of horse racing when he should have been a king!!!I hope it pays alot of medical bills, but it is a sad sad day when a horse cant trust his rider…you didnt have any horse left well from my perspective that beautiful, talented animal didnt have a rider he had a backstabbing, betrayer with little man syndrome.
By Paula
June 8, 2008 12:18 AM | Link to this
I think not giving him the Winstrol was a factor regardless of what the veternarians say. When a horse or human is used to getting it, they regress if it’s withdrawn (Winstrol increases muscle mass and red blood cells which carry oxygen). Not training like he normally would BECAUSE of the hoof crack was another issue. These horses have to be primed and he wasn’t. Also, he put in two very intensive runs within a month and a half of this race. Horses are no longer bred for stamina and it shows. He is a great horse but not invincible. Neither was Secretariat or Man O’ War (remember Upset).
By Alfie
June 8, 2008 12:22 AM | Link to this
The moment I heard he was off steroids my heart sunk knowing that again there would be noTriple Crown winner. However…
How many of the other starters were still on steroids? And, in what universe, unless you titrate an athlete off a pain-killer or steroid gradually, will it not affect his performance. What a time to experiment!
Steroids will affect the kidneys, liver and reproductive organs thus affecting the ability to breed. They should never have been allowed to begin with. Ever.
What geniuses came up with the idea that this would ever be okay. And if one horse in the race is on steroids, then you have to handicap the race differently, because a horse on steroids is a horse and a half to the other horses in a race. At weight-for-age competitions like the Triple Crown races, you’ve built in an advantage to the medicated individuals.
So Big Brown felt like a rag doll today, with no energy, and he showed it. It wasn’t his fault, or the jockey’s fault. It was racing allowing steroids to be used.
By joe
June 8, 2008 12:24 AM | Link to this
Next week BIG BROWN will be diagnosed with a breathing obstruction that caused inflamation and bleeding of his lungs. This is normally treated with medication,and the horse can at least finish the race. Except, Big Brown missed his May 15th steroid injection because his handlers stated “He doesn’t need steroids to win.” Well, obviously he needed the extra boost today the medication have provided him in the past.
I believe Big Brown should have waited another month to just say NO! to drugs joe
By Mario
June 8, 2008 12:50 AM | Link to this
I figured that with no real speed in the race today Big Brown would go for the lead (like the last 3 triple crown winners did in the Belmont) it would have been safe for Desormeaux to keep him out of trouble/traffic. Da’Tara was clowning around at the 6F. pole in 1:13…even on a bad day Big Brown should have been 10 lengths ahead of that!!! Very fishy….
By Big Brown Fan
June 8, 2008 1:11 AM | Link to this
I can’t believe Sharon and her ilk saying that Kent Desormeaux did anything but the right thing. He wanted his son to see him make history before his son goes blind. Shame on YOU! He did what was for the good of the horse. My God, were we watching the same race?! I SAW CLEARLY that the horse DID NOT HAVE IT IN HIM when Kent asked him to run. Kent did the right thing by pulling the horse up.
By Paula
June 8, 2008 2:38 AM | Link to this
For the conspiracy theorists out there, get over yourselves. Kent Desormeau did not throw this race. He had much more to gain financially if he won. So use your heads. Besides which, he wanted this for two other reasons: 1) For his deaf and potentially blind young son. 2) To vindicate his loss in a previous triple crown run. If you don’t believe me, look at the tape again on Youtube. He was on the outside trying to get Big Brown to run and go into that second gear. The way was clear. But B.B. wouldn’t do it because he didn’t have that second gear today. He is probably one tired horse and regressed off of the anabolic steroids.
By Zyskandar A Jaimot
June 8, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this
Horses are not machines. The failure of BIG BROWN in the BELMONT should make that quite clear. Now the questions must be asked about ‘STEROIDS’ - IS THIS WHY ‘BIG BROWN’ RAN SO POORLY NOT BEING GIVEN HIS USUAL DOSAGE??? For years it was ‘rumored’ that BAFFERT, LUCAS & OTHER LEADING TRAINERS administered ‘drug cocktails’ to allow their horses to run so much better as if ‘magically’ having them in their barn made average horses super stars - is it time to stop ‘p***-footing’ around STEROIDS in horse-racing and DEMAND that this sport be drug free??? YES I WROTE DRUG FREE - AND THAT INCLUDES THE SUPPOSED ANTI-BLEEDING MEDICATION LASIX WHICH IN TRUTH HAS THE ABILITY TO MASK OTHER DRUGS!!! Feed, hay, vitamins and the occassional ‘jug’ [of proteins, nutrients] should be in horses that’s it!!! Will BIG BROWN race again - at this point don’t know don’t care. ‘Crushing defeats’ like this are hard to take or just to watch - true champions try harder no matter the outcome. Had more respect for SECRETARIAT being beat first by his stable-mate and ‘rabbit’ ANGLE LIGHT and then ONION than what i saw at yesterday’s BELMONT. BELMONT is indeed the ‘graveyard of prospective champions’. CONGRATS TO ZITO AND ALL THE OTHER TRAINERS/OWNERS HORSES WHO FINISHED AHEAD OF BIG BROWN IN YESTERDAY’S RACE!!!
By Bob
June 8, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this
You folks blaming it on the jockey make no sense. He had the horse in perfect position in 3rd on the outside to make kick. The horse didn’t have it.
Why did they take him off the steroid? Probably because they had already syndicated (sold) him for millions and the new owners didn’t want their property further damaged.
I am glad that steroids are going to be banned? Were steroids allowed (and used) when Secretariat was around? Anybody know?
By Paddy
June 8, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
Kent rode a race that was dictated to him by Big Brown. I just want to see one more triple crown winner before I go to that big paddock in the sky. This might have been my best chance but who knows. You could just see during the race that this horse was just not into the moment for whatever reason. For lack of a better word “uninspired”.
By george vietze
June 8, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this
The race was more about Nick Zito and Da Tara. Nick Zito knows how to win the Bellmont. On 17May08 Da Tara ran l 1/16 in Pimlico in 1.42. The Par time at Pimlio for STAKES RACES is 1.44. The times running l 1/2 miles usually is run at a slower pace. Nick took full advantage of the slow pace and stole the race. When a horse like Big Brown, with a rough trip, that far behind, lost his heart. That scenerio has happened hundreds of times over the years. I had Da Tara on top but had Big Brown at least 2-3-or 4th. Kent D. is famous for pulling up horses if he does not think he can win. That jockey should be barred from racing, he takes a confident attitude to a new level bordering on mania, ask Bob Baffert who ran Real Quiet, the trainer can train them but they don’t get to ride them. NEXT…..When Charismatic won the Derby his prep race at Keenlnad was a mile 1 1/16 where he also ran two ticks of the BEST PARS at Churchill Downs. Handicappers need to know the difference in the Pars at the different tracks. What happened was not that surprising for people like Nick Zito……..who knows that sustained speed wins the Belmont not the closers.
By KGG
June 8, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this
Dutrow stated that he gave all of his horses a shot of Winstrol on the 15th of every month. The Preakness was on May 17th and the Belmont was on June 7th. So if what he says is true, Big Brown wouldn’t have gotten his shot until next Sunday. Fishy race.
By Wild Bill Hiltner
June 8, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this
Keith Simpson - if you want to see a far worse ride look at tapes of the Preakness and watch that knucklehead, Pat Day, ruin Easy goer’s chances - every one here is looking at the small proint and missing the big point, the Belmont has always been the ultimate test of a three year old and Big Brown, just did not have the class to win.
By Susan Nunes
June 8, 2008 2:49 PM | Link to this
No, steroids and no other drugs were allowed when Secretariat won the Triple Crown. He was clean; in fact, horses had to be clean in the classic races in that era.
By Me
June 8, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this
I’m just a casual watcher of the occasional race but it looked to me like Big Brown just didn’t have it.
By richbrave
June 8, 2008 3:48 PM | Link to this
Susan Nunes:
The horse with the too small withers is still the greatest race-horse that I personally have ever seen.
By Big Brown Fan
June 8, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
KGG, the last time Big Brown was given a steroid shot was on April 15, not May 15. Some believe it was because after the trainer bragged so much about how he trained his horse and mentioned the steroids, pressure was put on him to run the horse without steroids and Dutrow bowed to pressure. Since steroids affect a horse re: breeding (i.e., shooting blanks), he could have gotten pressure from Three Chimneys to stop the juice. I don’t think there was anything fishy about it, just a decision the trainer made. Besides, why would you have them change the schedule of his “medication”?! I don’t agree with steroid use nor condone it, but I certainly wouldn’t have given it to him any sooner than his regularly scheduled dose. Although as stated, the last time he had a shot was on April 15. So depending on the half-life of the drug, it was out of his system after the Preakness according to most who are more familiar with these drugs. By not giving it to him, however, I think there are those who will wonder if it was the lack of steroids that caused him to lose, or if it was something else. We may never know.
By Paula
June 8, 2008 4:58 PM | Link to this
About the steroids. I still think Big Brown is a great horse regardless. The problem with steroid use is that you can regress PAST your unenhanced status when you come off them. In other words, Big Brown is still the best 3 year old out there with or without them. Look at it this way, ALL the horses running were probably on them so they could be competitive during the Derby and Preakness. So it was an even playing field anyway you cut it. Dutrow made a mistake not giving him a dose off schedule for this one race because I guarantee you, they all had anabolics on board for the Belmont excapt Big Brown. Having said all this, they need to ban steroids across the board period except for medicinal reasons.
By lopy
June 8, 2008 6:14 PM | Link to this
Personally I think that a saddle with at least 120 pounds on it be strapped to every man and woman who flocks to the races to see these poor horses run in 90 degree heat for 1 1/2 miles and place their bets on them. Let them run that 11/2 miles and see how thay like it???? They would not even make it. So don’t down Big Brown or any other beautiful horse running, I think they should all balk at the starting gate and refuse to run.
By Proud dawg
June 8, 2008 6:23 PM | Link to this
Its horse racing people, maybe the horse didn’t want to run that day! I just commend the jockey for showing compassion for this animal when it was clear he was not up to racing!
By Big Brown Fan
June 8, 2008 6:23 PM | Link to this
Paula, I agree; they need to ban steroids across the board. Do we know if they tested all the horses after the race and confirmed the rest were all running on steroids? (And what about Lasix?) Just curious. I agree Big Brown is the best of the three-year-olds. He had an off-day for whatever reason. I’m still hoping they will run him in the Travers and Breeders’ Cup.
By Boots
June 8, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this
I do not claim to be an authority on horse racing, but it seems to me Big Brown was in anguish from his flaired nostrils and look in his eyes. It looked like he was having breathing problems.
Further, the schedule is gruelling and the breeding over the years has created very fragile animals —- huge, strong, but fragile.
It’s hard to explain, but I think you’ll find respiratory destress with this magnificent animal.
By Boots
June 8, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this
I do not claim to be an authority on horse racing, but it seems to me Big Brown was in anguish from his flaired nostrils and look in his eyes. It looked like he was having breathing problems.
Further, the schedule is gruelling and the breeding over the years has created very fragile animals —- huge, strong, but fragile.
It’s hard to explain, but I think you’ll find respiratory destress with this magnificent animal.
By Val
June 8, 2008 10:37 PM | Link to this
If Desormeaux pulled Big Brown up and slowed him, I say “bravo.” The jockey and only the jockey with his a* levitating off of that saddle with his hands on the reins can sense, feel and know when those horses have it or are in regression or pain. None of you wannabe trainers, neophyte horse owners or greedy nouveau riche. The jockey wanted to win this race as much as Big Brown did (and all the other jockeys and horses)… to think otherwise is ridiculous. The problem with all PRO sports in today’s world (post-1985) is this: GREED. Too much money. Too many drugs. Too many BS-ers out there. Steroids in all pro sports should mean a ban for life, period on first strike. And the idiots who breed these horses with such fragility are idiots. No one does this for the pure “love of the animals” or “passion of the sport” or the “fun” of it anymore. It’s all about “let me see how many Millions I can generate off of a winning horse and his sperm to Sheik Ahm-A-Riche-Mutta-F*******. Anytime I see a horse being “put down” at the end of a race, I think, “Why don’t they do it as a Family Plan? Horse + Trainer + Owner all in one shot. All you crybabies that can’t see the reality of why the jockey did what he did (the Right Thing), get a life or go shovel manure in stall 13.
By Al Mullins
June 9, 2008 8:44 AM | Link to this
WRONG! WRONG! DEAD WRONG!
I did not read all the comments,of the disappointed fan, about reasons they beleive,(BIG BROWN) didn’t win the last leg of the triple-crown.
I’ts very simple people!
I’TS called greed/and cheating.
Of all the crap that happens in our unbalanced world GREED-LIES AND CHEATING,is in the top FIVE. You’re free to name the other two. IF you notice the monies wagered,on that race alone,(over $10,000,000.00 on BIG BROWN to win)my above statement is the only logical reason the race ended the way it did.IF you remember/beleive nothing from what i’ve said,you’re foolish.The horse racing industery is a M@!#$*F@!#$@G Rip-off artist. THIS includes owners,trainers,and jockeys.If you’re gonna stay in this game,you’re gonna have too get in the MIX.No!ifs,ands,or,buts,about it.IF you don’t believe me,just ask K.J.DESORMEAUX,and Richard Dutrow
By nahjay davnpoop
June 9, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this
so how was it at the track, furman? oh, you weren’t there? you’re too old to travel? you just sat in your nursing home rolling around in your own waste and watched on tv?
RETIRE.
By tj
June 9, 2008 1:19 PM | Link to this
The fix was on. Had to be. They kept talking about the odds. They kept talking about how heavily favored Big Brown was. They talked about how much money (millions) was bet on him. I wondered what would happen. All that money to pay out. BAM! Instant loser. All money bet on Big Brown was kept by the house. “What happened?” they asked the jockey. “I have no idea” he said. “I had no horse”. WHAT!? No horse? The fix was on. Everyone who bet on the biggest favorite in 30 years lost all their money. Big Brown was made to lose. Either he was drugged, something implanted in his hoof to make him run slow, or his jockey just ditched him. There is no doubt this race was fixed.
By Jeff
June 9, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this
Furman, You biggest fan here, Lets face it this horse was no Big Red, (Secratariat.) The problem was a combination of the horse was not trained for the distance and the Jockey looked like he was on the take.
If you talk to Secretariat’s old Jockey he always said me and the horse knew I was on his back just for show; he ran the thing on his own. Big Brown was a big horse boosted beyond his skeletal capacity by steroids and not trained for long distance.
Big Red was in a class by himself and this horse was just a manufactured replica.
By Mike Vick
June 9, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this
My boyz and I can deal with underperforming animals.
By Coach S
June 9, 2008 7:24 PM | Link to this
Hey! You’re not Mike Vick. You used a 15 letter word and spelled it right! Nice try :) BTW, I agree with TJ above. The Belmont was fixed. Biggest favorite in 30years and finished last. I’m not buying any story about this except that one that makes the most sense. The fix was on.
By Big Brown Fan
June 9, 2008 10:54 PM | Link to this
If Kent Desormeaux had kept Big Brown on the rail and still not won the race, being boxed in and unable to get by Da’ Tara, people would still be complaining about the way the jockey ran the race. Kent really can’t win this argument with people trying to place the blame on him. Even if the horse had been allowed his head and free reign to run the race however he liked, he still would have been boxed into a pocket. Kent had no choice but to get the horse out of that pocket. He ran the race like he had the Derby and the Preakness; I believe he set the horse up to win like he had in previous trips. Going wide has not proven to be a problem for Big Brown in the past. But the track was like a beach, deep, and for whatever reason, the horse didn’t fire. Stop trying to blame it on Kent. If he had left the horse on the inside and lost, some of you would still be whining.
As for pulling him up only because he didn’t fire, he also has a bad foot! There was no way to know for certain, without a vet’s examination, whether the foot was acting up. Running him full out could have caused his foot to blow out. Kent did the right thing in pulling the horse up.
Sore losers and people crying foul and fixed race, apparently you weren’t watching the same race I watched Saturday. The horse didn’t have a clean break at the beginning of the race. I saw clearly that the horse did not have it in him when Kent asked him to run from the outside. The jockey had no horse, as he said. He also did not have a clean break at the start and the track conditions were off.
Read this article in Kent’s own words for how he viewed the ride. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/more/06/09/desormeaux.dp/
By Paint Man
June 10, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this
What is the matter with you folks !!! The FIX was in, anyone with a brain could see that—The horse doesn’t have a clue how much money was bet on him—but the jock sure did. Wake up, America !!!!
By War EAgle
June 10, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this
Jeff- You spoke with Secretariat’s Jockey? How about Penny Tweedy? Ron? Cool!
It appears that BB crashed due to the steroid not being in him. thisis like taking 5 hr energy and then running a marathon 7 hrs later. The Horse appeared to have been dependant on it. Bravo for Kent for pulling up. Everyone was passing hiim and there is not one reason to go all out for 5th place. BB should have been a scratch-perhaps he was not feeling well because of the hoof, but it looked like whatever he had before got used up. They need to treat these horses better. They deserve it.