He's not a mini - but GO BIG BROWN!!!

[ruffian]

Will this be the year for a triple crown winner????

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I'm afraid to watch (don't want to see another one hurt) but will be watching as I know I'd kick myself if he'd win and I wasn't watching!

Best of luck to him and his jockey!

 

[Sonya]

Although I love horses, I do not like racing. I will probably watch though...I hope all the horses stay safe and there are no injuries to equine or jockey.

 

[Sassy'sMom]

Did the race happen already? I thought it was supposed to be on at 5:00 EST and 4:00 CST. Does anyone know what happened? I forgot to watch it!

 

[Lisa]

Ten minutes to post, riders have just been called up and my heart is already pounding and my stomach is in knots and the butterflies are fluttering. I sure hope he gets it!!! The only horses that I see posing a challenge are Denis of Cork, Anak Nakal and Guadalcanal.

 

[Matt73]

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Did he do it? Did he do it? I'm stuck here at work! :Cold-Scared

Leia

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Aw MAN! Another year without a Triple Crown winner. Now I'm waiting to make sure Big Brown is even ok.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Darn..

 

[Barbie]

Hope he is ok - darn it, I wanted a Triple Crown winner.

Barbie

 

[Margo_C-T]

I walked in from an event in Albuquerque JUST in time to see the race. The winner(DaTara, who'd never won another race!) led wire to wire; Big Brown just wasn't the same horse we've seen before-fought his head when the jock tried to position him, was awfully wide on the turns, running third-and in the stretch, when Desormeaux asked for it, the horse just had NO GAS...I could see it. He pulled him up when it was clear he couldn't catch up, wisely, I imagine--finished LAST. Horse looked sound when unsaddled and walked out; they're saying he'll be examined from head to toe, checked for internal bleeding, among everything else. I wonder if it was the heat and humidity, on top of the unaccustomed 'closeness' of three big races in 5 weeks. I really can't imagine, with all the care and careful shoeing he had, that the quarter crack(a crack in the hoof wall that starts at the ground and goes upward following the direction of the laminae) was the 'cause' of this...

Just glad he ended up walking away!

The announcer just noted that Big Brown, in his only other encounter with Da Tara, beat him by 23 lengths....go figure!

(Edited to correct 'phonetic' spelling...

! )

Margo

 

[Bunnylady]

Kent Desormeaux: "I had no horse." There's your headline for tomorrow's sports pages.

The sports writers are speculating, the racing fans are all saying "if only, if only," but it has happened again. For whatever reason, the superhorse just didn't show up today.

RIP Jim McKay.

 

[Lisa]

It's too bad, but I'm glad it looks like he's alright.

The general consensus is that being taken off of the steroid that he has been getting for the last several months could have been a factor.

Like Margo, I could see that he wasn't the same horse. He broke cleanly, got into a good position, but he was all over the place and not the cool horse we have been used to seeing. Desormeaux has always been one of my favourite jocks and today he becomes even more so. He's a sportsman, a great jock and a horse lover. I'm glad to see that even though he has "no idea" why he "had no horse" he still eased him when he felt that something was off. It's nice to see that there are people in the business who are there for the horses!

Another year, another disappointment. I sure hope that I live to see a Triple Crown Champion.

Congrats to Da'Tara though

Margo, just FYI: Da'Tara has won one previous race, a nine-furlong maiden at Gulfstream (wire to wire in that one as well).

 

[Fanch]

Aww man, I really thought he was going to do it

But, as my friend said, s**t happens, maybe it just wasn't his day. My guess was him being taken off the steriods, maybe he just didn't have that extra unff.

Hoping to hear soon that he checks out ok.

 

[CLC Stables]

Having given legal steroids to my race horse, they actually come down off the steroids MUCH SOONER than most think. If he was given his last shot in April, he would be off of them, heck he might have been off of them by the Preakness really.

I personally feel it was the heat.

It is just easier for most people to assume it was due to the "human interferances" rather than natural factors.

Just my opinion.

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

I personally feel it was the heat.
It is just easier for most people to assume it was due to the "human interferances" rather than natural factors.

Just my opinion.

I agree with you, I think the heat had some play in it.. Though he wasn't our Triple Crown winner, he's still an awesome horse, has played his part in history, and thankfully he made it through the race

 

[wildoak]

What a heartbreak! I really thought - along with $5 million worth of bettors - that he was the one who could do it. Glad he is apparently okay, and yes it was quite visible that he just "wasn't there" today. Heat and humidity could surely have been a factor, but of course they all ran in the same heat. I'm sure they are going over him with a fine tooth comb...

Glad to see Desormeaux pull him up when it was apparent he wasn't right, too much at stake to risk ruining the horse over a race, even this race.

Jan

 

[C G Minis]

Bouncing all over the track then throwing his head up it seems he clearly was not himself and just shut down. I think he still had enough horse but Big Brown was not going to give it. What ever was going on with him , who knows,he is still one awesome horse.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I saw the race, that was real disappointing and I'm sure to everyone else too, I am just glad he is ok though.

I personally feel like his mind was playing tricks on him or something. He was cool and calm unlike the other horses when they got onto the track. He wasn't sweating bullets like the rest of them. I feel he just didn't want to race that day, the officials had to push him into the gate and as far as I know thats not him. I believe he also stumbled once he got out the starting gate, not by much that should affect him but just a tiny bit.

There might not be any reason too it, he might have just not wanted to race that day.

 

[HGFarm]

I love horses, but certainly do NOT agree with the racing rules, running two year olds and other things. Don't even get me started..... and steroids??? Why would so many horses need to be on steroids? Then there is the fertility issue...

Sorry to hear he didnt win, and sure hope he is ok.