Diemazz

Big Brown
Big Brown and Kent Desormeaux head into the gate for the 2008 Belmont Stakes.
Sire	Boundary
Grandsire	Danzig
Dam	Mien
Damsire	Nureyev
Sex	Colt
Foaled	2005
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Monticule Farms
Owner	IEAH Stables & Paul Pompa, Jr.
Trainer	Patrick Reynolds Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. (since fall 2007)
Record	8: 7-0-0
Earnings	$3,614,500
Major Racing Wins, Awards and Honours
Major Racing Wins
Florida Derby (2008) Haskell Invitational Handicap (2008) American Classic Race wins: Kentucky Derby (2008) Preakness Stakes (2008)
Infobox last updated on: 09:46, Friday January 9, 2009 (UTC).

Big Brown (foaled April 10, 2005 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and 2008 Preakness Stakes. Bred by Dr. Gary B. Knapp's^[1] Monticule Farms in Lexington, Kentucky,^[2] the three-year-old was undefeated in his first five career starts. He was sired by Grade III winner Boundary, a son of North American Champion sire Danzig, who was a son of Northern Dancer. Big Brown's dam was Mien, also a granddaughter of Northern Dancer through her sire, Nureyev.^[3]

Two-year-old campaign

Big Brown, named by his owner in honor of UPS,^[4] was purchased by Brooklyn, New York trucking company owner Paul Pompa, Jr. for $190,000 at the Keeneland Sales 2007 April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.^[5] Pompa turned him over to trainer Patrick Reynolds for race conditioning.^[6] Ridden by Jeremy Rose, the colt made his two-year-old racing debut on September 3, 2007 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, running away from the field and winning by 11+¹⁄₄ lengths.^[7] Pompa then sold an interest in Big Brown to IEAH Stables,^[8] a subsidiary of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, Inc., whose stated purpose is to create and manage an Equity Horse Fund, which will operate as a hedge fund.^[9] The new partnership sent the horse to the Palm Meadows Thoroughbred Training Center in South Florida under the care of new trainer, Rick Dutrow.

Three-year-old campaign

2008 Allowance

Unraced for more than six months, Big Brown debuted as a three-year-old with a 12-length win in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park. Big Brown was ridden by jockey Kent Desormeaux. It didn't look possible, but Big Brown pulled away to win. The colt drew attention was entered next in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

2008 Florida Derby

Entered in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, the colt drew post 12, the outside post. Despite his outside post position, under jockey Kent Desormeaux Big Brown won by five lengths.^[10]

134th Kentucky Derby

On May 3, 2008, in his fourth race, the 2008 Kentucky Derby, Big Brown was the 2–1 favorite. He became the first horse since 1929 to win the race from the 20th gate [1], winning by 4+³⁄₄ lengths over filly Eight Belles, who would be euthanized after breaking both front ankles during the post-race cool-down.^[11] The final time for the 1 1/4 mile race was 2:01:92.^[12] The official Beyer Speed Figure for the race was 109.

Rick Dutrow admitted that he administers stanozolol, an anabolic steroid, to his horses, including Big Brown, on the 15th of every month. However Dutrow stated to ESPN that Big Brown did not take the May 15th shot for the Belmont Stakes. ^[13] Stanozolol is banned in 10 states but not in any of the states where the Triple Crown races are held.^[13]

133rd Preakness Stakes

On May 17, 2008, in his fifth race, the 2008 Preakness Stakes, Big Brown came from the seventh gate and won the second leg of the Triple Crown by 5+¹⁄₄ lengths over Macho Again,^[14] becoming the fourth horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness while remaining undefeated.^[15] Big Brown was the 1–5 favorite entering the race. The final time of the 1 3/16 mile race was 1:54.80.^[14]

140th Belmont Stakes

On the Friday following the Preakness, a three-inch quarter crack was discovered on the horse's left front hoof, the same injury that he experienced in both of his front hooves the previous fall.^[16] With Dutrow referring to the injury as "just a little hiccup"^[17] and with the crack stitched together with steel wire, Big Brown resumed jogging at Belmont the following Tuesday.^[18]

For the Belmont Stakes, Big Brown wore a second set of stainless steel sutures on the inside of his hoof. Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay changed the sutures a week before the race and attached an acrylic and fiberglass adhesive patch to the hoof. Although he missed three days of training prior to the race, his gait and attitude seemed unaffected.^[19] After the crack was patched, Brown was exercised by rider Michelle Nevin. ^[20] Ian McKinlay said, prior to the Belmont, that Big Brown "does not need a patch on the quarter crack on his left front hoof until the morning of the Belmont Stakes. So Dutrow will give Big Brown his final hard workout Tuesday to breeze 5 furlongs without it and gallop him into the race confident the colt’s tender hoof is healed."^[21]

Big Brown went off as the 3-10 favorite in the Belmont. He was rank in the early stages of the race, and nearly ran up on the heels of eventual winner Da' Tara. Then Desormeaux tried to swing Big Brown to the outside during the first turn and bumped into Tale Of Ekati. Da' Tara won the race by 5 1/4 lengths while Big Brown finished 9th, becoming the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish in last place at Belmont. Jockey Kent Desormeaux pulled the horse up in the home stretch later saying something was amiss, stating immediately after the race, "I had no horse" although no phyiscal abnormality was ever found. Billy Turner, the trainer of Seattle Slew later stated if Desormeaux had pulled up a horse like that in his day the Stewards would have ran you out of the state and told you to never come back. Two weeks after the Belmont, a picture revealed a dislodged shoe on the right hind leg which could have been the cause of his poor performance. The shoe may have come loose during the race and gotten pushed back in while he was running. Of note was how after the race was over Rick Dutrow ran from the cameras after having boasted the race was "a foregone conclusion".^{[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}

2008 Haskell Invitational Handicap

Big Brown returned to racing on August 3, 2008 with a win in the $1 million Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park. Big Brown took the lead out of the gate, but was then passed by Coal Play rounding the final turn, it looked as if Coal Play was going to pull off an upset, but Big Brown dug in went to the bottom and after a heavy beating, passed him in the final strides to win by 1 3/4 lengths. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 107 for his win. Of note at the time of the race Coal Play had won two races, his maiden and an allowance.

2008 Monmouth Stakes

Big Brown won his next start in the Monmouth Stakes on September 13 in preparation for the Breeders Cup Classic. It was his first start on grass since breaking his maiden in 2007 and his first start against older horses. Breaking quickly from post 4, Big Brown opened up a sizeable lead down the backstretch. The field began to catch up to him entering the far turn, and as Proudinsky edged up his neck, Big Brown dug in gamely and held on for a 1/2 length victory. Although it must be noted he was running in a non-graded race. However there were horses that had ran in Grade I and Grade II horses in the race.

Injury and Retirement

Big Brown was declared out of the Breeders' Cup Classic after sustaining an injury during a workout at Aqueduct the morning of October 13th, 2008. Big Brown had worked in company with Kip Deville over the turf course, with the stablemates finishing together in final time of 1:12 4/5 for six furlongs. Afterward, it was determined that the colt had grabbed a quarter on the inside of the right front foot, and Big Brown was retired. ^[30]

Beginning in 2009, Big Brown will stand at stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky. Big Brown is a finalist for the Eclipse Award's American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse for 2008.

References

External links

• 2008 Kentucky Derby video
• 2008 Preakness video
• 2008 Belmont video, June 7
• Big Brown's pedigree and partial racing stats
• Bloodhorse.com article on Big Brown's win in the Florida Derby
• Thorough Time-line of Big Brown's Life and Career - constantly being updated with news, videos, commentaries

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