Posted on 05/17/2008 3:30:37 PM PDT by skimask
Big Brown looks like a Tripe Crown cinch. He wasn't even challenged today. This horse is a monster. Visions of Secretariat.
Yep - he destroyed the field. And he had plenty left at the end...
No doubt. The most dominating performances since "Big Red" (in '73).
It helps when you shoot the 2nd place winner after each race.
What a talent.
Kent didn’t even have to go to the whip. He set the bit and Big Brown ran away from everybody.
He accelerated at the end like he was equipped with an afterburner. I’ve never seen a horse leave the field behind so suddenly.
Well . . .it was a nice race, against an uninspiring field. He’s only had four starts, for heaven’s sake. Let’s hold our fire on calling him the next Secretariat until he has another mile and a half under his belt. When I see him win the Belmont by 25 lengths and break Secretariat’s excellent time, I’ll say we have another Man O’War/Secretariat on our hands.
I hope Big Brown wins instead of choking at the end like Smarty Jones and Funny Cide did.
Big Brown looked like he wanted to charge to the lead a lot earlier, but was held back. He barely broke a sweat.
Ping
Holy crap, I just watched that video clip and Secretariat totally smoked those other horses.
Fastest 1 1/2 miles in history. ...by wide margin. Still to this day.
Big Brown is a very good horse in a weak year, but no Secretariat.
Kentucky Derby winning times:
Secretariat 1:59 2/5 ( still the derby record after 35 years )
Big Brown 2:01.82
Preakness Stakes winning times:
Secretariat 1:53 2/5 (unofficial) 1:54.4 ( official )
Big Brown 1:54.8
Belmont Stakes winning time:
Secretariat 2:24 ( still the stakes, track, and world record after 35 years )
If Big Brown can become only the second horse to win the Belmont Stakes in under 2:26, he will rank as one of the better horses in racing history -— but still no Secretariat!
Oh, you all are talking about a horse. Nevermind!:)
Perhaps not quite in Secretariat’s league, but it was a fun and exciting race and I really would love to see a Triple Crown win again!
Can’t wait for Belmont!
Narcissistic loon.
LOL
Big Brown/Desormeaux (and that’s how you have to see them)
do not strike me as a duo that could choke when the real heat is on, and that describes the Belmont. In fact, at this point, I do see a Secretariat like Belmont from BB.
Maybe not 31 lengths, but maybe 21 , which would be thrilling enough. His people just have to pray he stays healthy, and has come out of the Preakness with no complications of any kind (especially to his “feet”, his only known problem area) There’s already a challenger horse being talked up, did you catch it in the post race chatter on CH. 4? Possible problem for Big Brown......Casino Drive. Never heard of him, but I assume he’s good. You just KNOW the commentators have to chat up a challenger even at this point, to create interest. ANYWAY I had about 20 $1 superfectas, and had the 3 and 6 in 3rd and 4th in a number of them, but didn’t figure on the 1 to be 2nd.
Secretariat was a special horse...The Big Red Bay
Big Brown/Desormeaux (and that’s how you have to see them)
do not strike me as a duo that could choke when the real heat is on, and that describes the Belmont. In fact, at this point, I do see a Secretariat like Belmont from BB.
Maybe not 31 lengths, but maybe 21 , which would be thrilling enough. His people just have to pray he stays healthy, and has come out of the Preakness with no complications of any kind (especially to his “feet”, his only known problem area) There’s already a challenger horse being talked up, did you catch it in the post race chatter on CH. 4? Possible problem for Big Brown......Casino Drive. Never heard of him, but I assume he’s good. You just KNOW the commentators have to chat up a challenger even at this point, to create interest. ANYWAY I had about 20 $1 superfectas, and had the 3 and 6 in 3rd and 4th in a number of them, but didn’t figure on the 1 to be 2nd.
His move down the backstretch was the best I've ever seen.
You’re right-—Desormeaux was nearly “hard-holding” him in the early stages of the race, then at the head of the stretch or thereabouts, he was a bit boxed in,running third, and was very nearly taken up a little. That’s the point where I knew Kent would swing him to the outside, because there was nothing else to do, then he came up alongside the other two, Kent looked back, and accelerated, and looking at it you just knew it was all over.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121098135648100193.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
‘Tis ok, you’re on the right thread after all.
LOL! Thanks for the link. Cool! This is the first I have heard of it. Nobody ever tells me anything. A Big Brown horse to replace Dale Jarrett.
Oh yeah. There was two different horse races going on there, Secretariat alone and the rest of the field. Races like that just aren’t seen, especially at that level. A race I will never forget, and I didn’t even see it at the time- I was listening to the announcer on the radio and he was so excited I thought he would have a heart attack.
Yes, that Preakness move from last to first was just one of the awe inspiring things Secretariat did in his career; it was really something to see. But consider this little factoid in the comparisons between Secretariat and Big Brown, thus far-—throw out all “final time” or fractional time considerations and comparisons-—any scientific handicapper knows they are meaningless.....a more interesting factor is HOW BIG WERE THE FIELDS and HOW MANY HORSES DID HE BEAT? Secretariat’s fields were 13 in the Derby, 6 in the Preakness, and a paltry 5 in the Belmont-—in other words it got EASIER for him to win.The small Belmont field may have facilitated his record breaking margin of victory and final time. Going into the Belmont he had beat 17 horses in Triple Crown races.
BIG BROWN going into the Belmont has beat TWICE that nearly-— 30 horses, and won ONE of those races from FAR OUTSIDE, probably the equivalent of at least 15 lengths from the rail. These things do matter. If the Belmont plaYs out like I think it will, Big Brown may prove to be the equal of Secretariat. He has already generated twice as much true excitement as Funny Cide, or Smarty Jones, or even Real Quiet did in years past. I think the public recognizes a superhorse when it sees one.
And yep SD, Big Brown could very well turn out to be among the elite in the sport's long history.
Well, just got home...
never have liked to try to compare horses against those from another year or era, so won’t start now.
Will say that the move this horse made on the turn, going from third to first, by 5 lengths, in a heartbeat, was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.
This horse hasn’t even tried yet.
And he’s been 3/4/5 wide in each of his last two.
No telling how good he is.
Casino Drive broke his maiden in Japan, by a ton.
Won the Peter Pan last weekend(ridden by Desormeaux), pretty easily.
Two races, two big wins.
Out of the same mare as Rags to Riches and Jasil. Last two Belmont winners. Interesting
http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=45162
I just let two of my kids watch that video—incredible. Secretariat, in my mind, is one of the greatest athletes the world has ever known.
I actually cried when Secretariat died...what a horse.
How would those of you in the know pit Big Brown against the legendary Sea Biscuit? I’ve always been amazed by his race against War Admiral.
“Visions of Secretariat.”
Yeah, and Secretariat’s nickname was Big Red.
I totally agree. He looked like he cantered through most of today's race, and crossed the line at a loping gallop, certainly not a flat-out run. I love his jockey. He knows his horse, he is determined to win the race, and he hasn't jeopardized his horse by trying to set a record, which I believe BB could easily do. What a pair!
Yes, I think Kent has done well with this horse.
Believe there’s a lot left in the tank.
I like Big Brown, and in many ways he reminds me of Secretariat. But there has NEVER been a horse as talented or as strong as Secretariat. Secretariat is singular, and stands alone. Secretariat was quite simply the greatest racehorse in history.
Heard that UPS is getting involved in marketing the horse....on a radio commercial today.
Actually it is Secretariat who might not be in Big Brown's league. It's still too early to tell, but Secretariat faced some competition. Unfortunately we might only get three or at most four more races out of Big Brown. I would guess Belmont, Travers, maybe the Jockey Club, and then the BC Classic. Today it looked like Big Brown was running against humans.
ML/NJ
Thanks for that info,it jogged my memory , now just remembering the commentators at the Belmont mentioned those facts, esp. the interesting one of the lineage and its Belmont history....a more interesting fact is that Desormeaux rode him in the Peter Pan. Maybe Casino Drive will “recognize” him in the Belmont and freak out....just watched the YouTube footage of the Peter Pan, and it looks like a good race, to be sure, but one where his speedball stablemate set it up for him to close into. SO—so far, I don’t think anyone like him is going to upset Big Brown in the Belmont.
Thanks for that info,it jogged my memory , now just remembering the commentators at the Belmont mentioned those facts, esp. the interesting one of the lineage and its Belmont history....a more interesting fact is that Desormeaux rode him in the Peter Pan. Maybe Casino Drive will “recognize” him in the Belmont and freak out....just watched the YouTube footage of the Peter Pan, and it looks like a good race, to be sure, but one where his speedball stablemate set it up for him to close into. SO—so far, I don’t think anyone like him is going to upset Big Brown in the Belmont.
Thanks for posting. Big Brown...whata horse! WOW!
Afterburners.
Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes in 1973 was essentially like Tiger Woods at the Masters in 1997: totally no competition.
Big Brown’s performance today brought to mind Secretariat. Thank you for providing the video link. I watched that race on a snowy b/w 13 in. portable, and Secretariat was beautiful to watch even under those circumstances.
“Actually it is Secretariat who might not be in Big Brown’s league.”
That is really quite absurd.
Based on the racing times Big Brown would have lost the Derby and Preakness to Sham, the gifted horse that helped drive Secretariat to greatness. In any other year but 1973, Sham would have been the Derby and Preakness winners, and horse of the year, instead of a little noted footnote to the greatest throroughred horse of all ( Man O’ War partisans do have some good arguments of course ). Sham’s Derby time was no worse than the fourth best ever, and most say second only to Secretariat’s.
Big Brown is a very good horse in a very weak year for throroughbred horses. He hasn’t yet shown that he is in the same class as either Sham or Secretariat. All he needs to do is win the Belmont in 2:23.99 and break Secretariat’s 35 year old stakes, track, and world record. If Big Brown could do that, I’d then agree that he is one of the all-time greats. But let’s be realistic, if he can just win in 2:25.99 or less, and become the second horse to run the Belmont in less then 2:26, he will establish himself as one of the better triple crown winners. First he’s got to do it, and based on his Derby and Preakness times I doubt that it will happen.
It helps to actually know what you are talking about here at FR. I saw Secretariat LOSE three times. I mean I was there IN PERSON to see him lose. I was also there at Belmont to see his spectacular Belmont Stakes win. Were you even born yet?
Sham was a nice horse, but his principal claim to fame was losing to Secretariat. Without looking I cannot think of the name of any horse that ran behind Sham in a race that he won. Secretariat beat many better horses than Sham.
Horse races are just that. They are races, not time trials. The trip, surfaces, and conditions vary in ways that make time comparisons silly. Maybe we'll see if Big Brown is as awesome as he looked winning the Preakness yesterday when he races older horses later in the year. From what I have seen so far (all on TV) he might be.
ML/NJ
Excuse me? Secretariat was no more a bay than I am.
Secretariat is said by some to be the best racehorse of the 20th century, though Man O'War actually has a stronger claim. However, there were a few centuries of horse racing before either of them were born. What of Eclipse, whose races consisted of three multi-mile heats, and who was undefeated in 18 starts? He stopped racing only because no horse could be found to race against him after he continued to distance them all by 240 yards or more. He was considered the greatest race horse of the 18th century, and he ran longer, harder races without the benefits of modern shoes and farriery, modern supplements, modern surfaces.
“What of Eclipse, whose races consisted of three multi-mile heats, and who was undefeated in 18 starts?”
That’s why the horse of the year award is the “Eclipse award”.
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