Brown Out

by Ryan Roshau

So much for a sure thing.

Hindsight it always 20/20 but it's hard to say we didn't see this coming. This time with Big Brown things were supposed to be different but as the old saying goes, "fools and their money are soon parted."

I thought Big Brown could win and probably should win but I've seen very good horses through the years stopped cold in the Belmont Stakes in their pursuit of the Triple Crown. Everything has to go absolutely perfect in the Derby, Preakness and finally the Belmont. That is a great deal to ask and was it not Meatloaf, the wise sage, who pined Two out of Three Ain't Bad?

The demand for perfection is what makes winning the Triple Crown the toughest feat to accomplish in sports and passing the ultimate test is not (contrary to Rick Dutrow's belief) a foregone conclusion. Time on the track and fitness lost due to the quarter crack, the third tough race in only five weeks, the bad post and high temperatures, all seemed to align against "Brownie". That, coupled with the brash comments by Dutrow and co-owner Michael Iavarone probably meant karma was not standing at the window betting on Big Brown.

Only 20 seconds into the race I had to wince when Big Brown's head flung up high, rank and restrained by jockey Kent Desourmeaux. So much for the perfect trip. When he was carried out wide on the backstretch, it was another bad sign. As they approached the far turn you could see Desormeaux going to work, asking the question of the 1-4 favorite but the big horse provided no answer.

In the aftermath, Big Brown's connections didn't have the answers either. The horse was pulled up promptly as the field entered the stretch and wound up last in the field of nine. There were no physical ailments, only a tired horse who went from a career of beating everyone to a race where he beat no one.

Because of all the earlier mentioned points, I wasn't shocked he lost. An hour before the Belmont a the HRND Belmont Pary I visited with serveral seasoned horsemen (whom I hold in high regard) who voiced their reservations about Big Brown's fitness and the fact that he had rundown in his previous race. We came to a consensus that he will either prove to be the best and win in spite of himself or he would not hit the board. Turns out there was something behind door number two.

Looking back on it, I am a little suprised and frankly disappointed by how many industry "experts" jumped on the foregone conclusion bandwagon. Analysist were trying to out-do one another and the discussion became not if Big Brown would win but by how much? TVG became a week-long lovefest dedicated to Big Brown and his pursuit of greatness. Much of their telecast, in fact, was sponsored by IEAH Stable who owns Big Brown. I am all for shining the spotlight on the sport's stars but these guys are supposed to be in the handicapping business and they lost some credibility with me when not a single one of them made it interesting and went out on a limb to pick against Big Brown or at least give us a longshot possibility. By sunset Saturday, their thoughts and opinions layed scattered like so many worthless win tickets on Big Brown.

Now we move forward and hope that on another sunny Saturday we will have the opportunity to see the real Big Brown again. I hope that is the case because I don't want to remember him as the horse who was slowed to a cantor and walked over the wire in his last race. Here's hoping he's healthy and the connections send him out in glory with another race or two. I hope there is at least one more in the Travers at Saratoga in August on the same track where he broke his maiden. That would be a fitting final chapter to the Big Brown story.

But for now we turn the page and maintain that someday, a decade from now or perhaps sooner, a Triple Crown will be won. The right horse will come along and the racing gods will once again smile on some fortunate three year old and those that surround him.

It will happen but when it does, it won't be easy.