Racetrack Lenny

More Brown Fallout

Now that we're two weeks past the Belmont Stakes, the "blame game" has settled down because there are other distractions taking people's attention.

It didn't take long for the owner to blame the trainer; the trainer to blame the jockey; and the jockey blamed the weather, and, and, and.......

Big Brown's connections have pointed him to the Haskell Handicap at Monmouth Park on August 3rd. Michael Iavarone of IEAH Stables said: "We'll race in the Haskell because Saratoga is so hot & humid and Monmouth being on the Jersey Shore is a lot cooler". Puhleeeze. The Haskell generally turns out to be a "stand out" horse racing against a few Monmouth regulars--with maybe another or two legitimate contenders coming down. It is not what the Haskell used to be. I'll get some heat for this; but, in my mind, the Haskell should be downgraded in class. It truly is not a Grade 1 stake race. Owner Iavarone may not have been to Monmouth too many times during a heat wave. It can be just as oppressive--perhaps even more so than Saratoga.

A few facts are clear: Except for his 1st race, Big Brown miraculously drew the outside post in his races except for the Belmont. The horse was hard to rate needing to be on or close to the lead--in the clear. This meant the horse always raced wide (in the 3 or 4 path) and never, ever took turns well--always veering to the outside. You never saw Big Brown race along the rail. That's a training issue and it cost the horse plenty on June 7th. In addition, the fact that the horse had not been administered his steroid, Winstrol, had to have something to do with his form reversal. Finally, let's not forget that up until June 7th, the warmest day had gotten to 80 degrees with low humidity. On Friday, June 6th, the weather was showery and the high temperature was 67 degrees. On Belmont day, the high temperature was a record-breaking 96 degrees with oppressive humidity. Some animals, like humans, have a hard time quickly acclimating to that type of temperature change. Case closed.

Now we move on to see if in the Haskell, Big Brown can prove the Belmont was a fluke--or not.

May the horse be with you!



Racetrack Lenny

racetrack lenny went to the post at @ 12:39 PM