The scene has been repeated numerous times since 1978, the last time a horse won the Triple Crown. A promising start to the season, a win in the Kentucky Derby, a win in the Preakness, high hopes for the Belmont. Only to have those dreams shattered. Sometimes its so close but just out of reach as it was for Smarty Jones (2004), Funny Cide (2003), Charismatic (1999), Real Quiet (1998) and Silver Charm (1997)-all horses that placed in the money but failed to win. And those were only the horses since 1990. For others, like Big Brown, there were poor placings. Of course, none placed as poorly as he did. In 2002, War Emblem placed 8th but had a horrible stumble out of the gate.
(War Emblem's stumble in the 2002 Belmont)And now the questions start being asked about Big Brown.
Did the fact that he had a repaired quarter crack play a role in his racing? Did it matter that he had not had his monthly shot of anabolic steroids in May? What happened?
Big Brown had feet issues throughout his run for the Triple Crown. I believe that he had repaired quarter cracks in the other two races as well. The crack its self, I don't believe to be a problem, however it did put him off three days of training. The sports writers seem to think that this makes a big deal. I'm not a race horse trainer. But does it really? Three days? These are finely tuned racing machines. They have the bloodlines and genetics to run. They've been trained since barely two years old to do nothing more than break from a gate and run. It comes down to the fact that they are horses. Training is important, but they are horses. If a horse can't run, they might as well be dead. What do they do in the wild? Run! I never think twice about taking out one of my ponies and asking them to trot on a lunge line for 15-20 minutes even if they've never done it before. They might be tired, they might breath heavy, they might be sore the next day. (And that's why training is needed.) BUT they are horses and if they can't do something that would come naturally to them be it in the deserts of Nevada or on the Shetland Islands than what good are they. I never think twice about asking Nell to jump something, prepared or not. I know she's got the background training to do it. Big Brown had the background training to know how to run. Three days less wouldn't of made that big of an impact. He just didn't do it.
Was it because he wasn't on steroids? Maybe. I don't know. But the fact of the matter is, that every horse Big Brown ran against had the same opportunity as he did to be on anabolic steroids. They are completely legal in the states where the three Triple Crown races are ran. Next year, they will probably be illegal in all racing states. Will this make racing better? Maybe. But only in the sense that it will be only horses pure and simple racing. Nothing altering them. Is baseball better because hormones and steroids are illegal? Does it really change anything if everyone or noone is on them? Not really. But I predict that it will even take longer to find another Triple Crown winner.
After the race, Big Brown was throughly examined. And nothing physically wrong with him was found. His foot was fine. He didn't bleed into his lungs. Perhaps it was mental. Big Brown just didn't want to do it. Horses can be like that.
Did the heat and track conditions-deeper than at the other two tracks-play a role in the colt's demise? Maybe. It was awfully hot. But why would the other horses do so well. The winner was leading from the time he broke from the gate to the time he sailed across the finish line well ahead of everyone else.
Even if Big Brown won, I feel that he didn't have any competition. His biggest competition was Eight Belles and she's dead. Most of the horses that he beat in the Derby didn't even run in the Preakness. Beating a handful of random horses isn't winning the Triple Crown. Its a cop out.
I hope that Big Brown's trainer has been taken down a peg or two. He went into the race saying that nothing could touch his horse and well, he was wrong. He was too cocky. Being confident is one thing. Being an ass is another. You can never predict tragedies.
All in all, I'm glad that Big Brown didn't win. I don't believe him to be the fantastic horse everyone made him out to be. His connections have a right to be upset, seeing their great colt go from undefeated on a Triple Crown run to not even finishing the Belmont. However, they should be thankful that he is still sound enough to race again, sound enough to fufill that $50 million breeding contract he has. After all, he's luckier than Eight Belles...
[EDIT-Originally published to Blogger on June 14, 2011]
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