Brown’s jockey speaks

Here’s a bit of insight we just heard from Big Brown’s jockey, Kent Desormeaux:

“I have an idea of how the race is going to go. But the reality is when the doors open it’s all feel. I have to have this horse at his ultimate cruising speed…and when I ask him at quarter pole I have to have something left.

“Fifty percent of them are different on every race day. The horse that bounces onto the lead in one race might want to be quieter another time. They have different feelings; as a rider I just try to feel through that…”

Of Big Brown’s post position (No. 6, middle of the 12 starters), Desormeaux said:

“I think I could stick him right up somebody’s tail and follow them around the race track and he wouldn’t mind it at all. Let’s see how he reacts to all the jockeying for position early in the race. I think he’ll handle it just fine.”

Friday, and minus one Preakness horse

The Preakness Stakes has lost Behindatthebar due to a bruised foot. The son of Forest Wildcat was scratched Friday morning, leaving 12 in the race Saturday.

The announcement was made from Belmont Park, where Behindatthebar has been training.

The Lexington Stakes winner had drawn post position No. 5. With him out of that starting spot, all horses to the outside of him will move in by one stall, including 1-2 favorite Big Brown who now will start from post No. 6.

Not a stud muffin yet

I have just read on Bloodhorse.com that Big Brown’s ownership has been unable to do the stallion deal prior to the Preakness Stakes. The deal is expected to be finalized some time after the race on Saturday.

Mike Iavarone, spokesman for IEAH Stables (partner with Paul Pompa Jr. in Big Brown) told us Thursday morning that the deal was 99 percent close to being done today. But apparently it wasn’t that “done.”

So, we’ll see what comes down. Iavarone was insistent here in Baltimore that Big Brown will not race next year as a 4-year-old.

The browning of Pimlico

Why is Big Brown so superior to other horses? One reason is his balanced stride. He’s so balanced, he could be a show horse. But he’s all race horse, as everyone saw when he came from post position No. 20 to win the Kentucky Derby with no effort. His stride eats up the ground, as horsemen like to say.

After arriving at Pimlico Wednesday evening, Brown made his first venture onto the race course here Thursday morning, with exercise rider Michelle Nevin in the saddle. He handled the course as smoothly as he does everything else, whether crowds, traveling by airplane, or running a race.

The buzz today is all about the stallion deal coming down concerning Brown. Michael Iavarone, managing partner in the ownership team, said this morning the deal is 99 percent finished and Brown will stand at a Kentucky farm. That’s all we know so far.

After Brown returned from his gallop, trainer Dick Dutrow talked about a variety of subjects including the short time between the Derby and Preakness. Here’s an excerpt:

“There’s no way anyone can tell how a horse is going to run in two weeks. I mean, you don’t have time to train them, breeze them a few times. But since he’s come out of the Derby, I’m very happy with the horse. He’s just done everything you’d want a horse to do when they’re coming out of a race like that. He hasn’t missed an oat, he’s aggressive with his gallops, it’s all good. I don’t know how he’s going to run with the two weeks but I’m certainly not going to dismiss him.

“I don’t like 2 weeks. I like running them back in 3, 4, 5 days or 30-40 days. But that’s just me. It doesn’t mean that Big Brown won’t like it. He seems like he’s on his game enough, so I’m sure he’s going to show up the right way. He’s a lightly raced horse, only got 4 starts, so it’s not like he had 4-5 starts as a 2-year-old and this is his 5^th or 6^th start this year. He’s pretty well fresh, so this might work to his advantage. We’ll see.” (Photos by Maryjean Wall/Staff)

UPS delivers Brown

Big Brown is here at Pimlico. He arrived by van about 8 p.m. Wednesday, following a smooth flight from Louisville.

UPS delivered — right to his barn. A UPS delivery truck pulled into the race track grounds ahead of the horse van bringing Big Brown; a UPS tractor-trailer cab brought up the rear. Big Brown had a police escort from the airport.

Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. rode on the plane with the colt and on the van with him from the airport. He said he found it amusing that people were waving at the van and clapping.

Big Brown is now settling in for the night in his new digs: the stall that Pimlico traditionally reserves for the Kentucky Derby winner. He’s a friendly horse who doesn’t appear to mind new surroundings or commotion. When I left him, he was munching down on his hay.

Big Brown at 1-2 in Preakness

BALTIMORE — Big Brown drew smack in the middle of 13 contesting the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, quite unlike the far-outside post he had when winning the Kentucky Derby.
That’s no problem for Big Brown, according to trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., who said Wednesday that the son of Boundary can win from anywhere.
Dutrow said the same before the Derby May 3 and Brown delivered from the No. 20 post position, a spot from which only one other Derby winner had come: Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.
Big Brown’s Derby victory by 4-3/4 lengths was so convincing that it seemed mildly surprising that 12 others will challenge him in the Preakness, the middle leg of the Triple Crown.
Only one Preakness hopeful, Gayego, has returned from the Derby to tackle Big Brown again. The other 11 did not race in the Derby, among them Kentucky Bear, who finished third in the Blue Grass Stakes.
Kentucky Bear’s trainer, Reade Baker, expressed confidence in his colt while saying on ESPN Wednesday that Big Brown “beat all those horses at Churchill Downs but he didn’t beat us.”
This largely may be what the “new shooters” are hoping for in the Preakness: that Big Brown might be regressing from that huge effort nearly two weeks ago, while the new competitors are progressing.
It’s a long shot. That’s why the Preakness oddsmaker, Frank Carulli, made Big Brown the odds-on favorite at 1-2.
Second choice is Gayego at 8-1 and third choice is Behindatthebar at 10-1. Not another in the field is less than 15-1. (Photo by Maryjean Wall/staff)

Preakness post positions

Here are the post positions drawn by the horses in the Preakness ield of 13:

1 — Macho Again, with jockey Julien Leparoux, 20-1.

2 — Tres Borrachos with jockey Tyler Baze, 30-1.

3 — Ichabad Crane with jockey Jeremy Rose, 30-1.

4 — Yankee Bravo with jockey Alex Solis, 15-1.

5 — Behindatthebar with jockey David Flores, 10-1, 3rd choice.

6 — Racecar Rhapsody with jockey Robby Albarado, 30-1.

7 — Big Brown with jockey Kent Desormeaux, 1-2 favorite.

8 — Kentucky Bear with jockey Jamie Theriot, 15-1.

9 — Stevil with jockey John Velazquez, 30-1.

10 — Riley Tucker with jockey Edgar Prado, 30-1.

11 — Giant Moon with jockey Ramon Dominguez, 30-1.

12 — Gayego with jockey Mike Smith, 8-1, 2nd choice.

13 — Hey Byrn with jockey C. C. Lopez, 20-1.

Roundtable on racing’s problems

Interesting note: NBC Sports’ Bob Costas will lead a roundtable discussion examining the death of the filly Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby during the network’s coverage of the Preakness Stakes beginning 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Also part of the discussion will be the challenges that lie ahead for the horse racing industry.

Panelists will include Larry Jones, trainer of Eight Belles; Gary Stevens, NBC’s horse racing analyst; Larry Bramlage, equine orthopedic surgeon; Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, and William Rhoden, columnist for the New York Times.

Keeps you yodeling all night long

It’s Frank Stronach’s race track, here at Pimlico, so I guess he can post whatever signs he wants to. He’s posted a number of banners pushing Frank’s Energy Drink, a product he has endorsed.

Some of us have been amused, from the time this drink came on the market, at how Stronach employs a stable of young women to boost the product. The women resemble Swiss yodelers. Take a look for yourself at this web site: http://www.franksenergy.com/franksgirls/franksgirls.html

You, too, can become one of Frank’s Energy Girls. His web site informs us that he’s seeking “beautiful, energetic women looking to join the Frank’s Energy Girls promotional team as ambassadors for Canada’s newest and most exciting energy drink.”

It’s vintage Frank, as everyone will recall from his promotional girls used at the inaugural Sunshine Millions.

As Frank says, the energy drink “keeps you yodeling all night long.”

Waiting for the draw

We’re waiting for two big events here at Pimlico, Wednesday afternoon: the arrival of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown — and the post position draw.

Thirteen have entered the Preakness Stakes for Saturday: Big Brown, Behindatthebar, Gayego, Giant Moon, Hey Byrn, Icabad Crane, Kentucky Bear, Macho Again, Racecar Rhapsody, Riley Tucker, Stevil, Tres Borrachos, and Yankee Bravo.