OT - Big Brown?

[deluca67]

They take the horse of steroids and he finishes dead last. It was funny listening to the announcers trying to blame it in on the crack in his hoof.

[Corp000085]

I know next to nothing about american thoroughbread racing, but i do know darwin's theory of evolution. Small gene pool, bread to win a couple races then either break down or fall off the charts completely, like BB did yesterday. Basically, the gene pool is f---ed for the next 50-100 years, provided they find an alternative today.

[Bmwolf21]

They take the horse of steroids and he finishes dead last. It was funny listening to the announcers trying to blame it in on the crack in his hoof.

I don't doubt that the steroids were a big part of it, but I don't think you can discount the crack in his hoof and how it prevented them from training him as much as they wanted for the longest leg of the Crown.

[Bmwolf21]

I know next to nothing about american thoroughbread racing, but i do know darwin's theory of evolution. Small gene pool, bread to win a couple races then either break down or fall off the charts completely, like BB did yesterday. Basically, the gene pool is f---ed for the next 50-100 years, provided they find an alternative today.

Good point, there was a fantastic story on ESPN.com after Eight Belles broke her legs and had to be put down on the track, and the article talked about the problems in the breeding and the closed system and all that. I'll see if I can find the link.

 

And IIRC Dwight is big into horse racing and training, so maybe he can share an insider's perspective on what happened with Big Brown and what he thinks the causes were,

[Bmwolf21]

This is the article I was talking about. There is the main article and then an insert about 3/4-way down that talks about the closed system and drying gene pool. Both are pretty good reads, IMO.

 

LINK

[shrader]

I wouldn't be surprised if the owners/trainers told the jockey ahead of time that if he wasn't going to win, pull up and coast to the finish. They'd rather have it look like something was wrong with the horse instead of having it look like the horse could be beaten. Probably a smart move given how much money they're going to make off that horse.

[Eleven]

I know next to nothing about american thoroughbread racing, but i do know darwin's theory of evolution. Small gene pool, bread to win a couple races then either break down or fall off the charts completely, like BB did yesterday. Basically, the gene pool is f---ed for the next 50-100 years, provided they find an alternative today.

 

The gene pool won't expand. Aren't all thouroughbreds descended from the same 3 (ancient) Arabian horses?

[Goodfella25]

They take the horse of steroids and he finishes dead last. It was funny listening to the announcers trying to blame it in on the crack in his hoof.

 

I don't know. Horses can't read odds. So it may be that he just didn't have it on that particular day. It was the longest race of the triple crown.

[wjag]

Regardless of the reason, I was profoundly bumbed. I had my six year-old watching the race. I had him all pumped up to watch history. I remember watching Affirm do it in '78. I couldn't believe Big Brown fell back to last and feared another injury. Totally bumbed. Funny thing is, I don't really care at all about horse racing. I just like to watch history.