Should Big Brown follow Curlin to France?

Question

ok im aware this question is waaaaay outside the box.

but maybe not as crazy as it sounds.

with Curlin headed to the turf and then to france big brown will have no shot to face him. If big brown is to be considered a great horse he absolutely has to beat curlin. a classic win without Curlin in the race would simply not be enough to secure the title great.

so what could big browns connections do ????

take curlin on in the arc.

nuts right. maybe but. hey big brown does have a turf pedigree. and he broke his maiden on turf. which gives him more experience on the surface then curlin. could big brown match up against the rest of the field in the arc? a field of international superstars, maybe.

if he won the arc, he'd be the first american horse to do so.

i say its worth a shot. at the very least put big brown in curlins second turf race scheduled at Saratoga. his connections have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

what do you think?

Answer 1

Heck no! Big Brown won't beat Curlin after such a bad race. In my opinion Curlin shouldn't even entered into that race. He has nothing else to prove except his owners are greedy. And I believe that Big Brown's owners are not greedy.

Answer 2

no drugs in france = no big brown in france! sorry!

and he does have something too lose, that is stud value, the more he is beaten the less stud value he is worth!

i think the owners and trainer will be choosing races for him were he will have a good chance of winning!

Answer 3

Good question....there are so many ways to think about it.

PROS

1.  Big Brown will never be Horse of the year without beating Curlin.

2. Big Brown has handled turf and should be able to excell on it.  He broke his maiden on it.  His breeding says he can handle both the turf and the distance.  There is a US race that is close in relation to the ARC, The Sword Dancer Invitational, 1 1/2 mile on Turf..  Last years winner, Grand Couturier is breed from the same lines as Big Brown...Sire goes to Danzig, Dam goes to Norther Dancer.  

3.His stud fee would jump with either a win in the ARC or the BC Classic, but a win in the ARC will draw quality mares from Europe to be bred to him, a BC Classic win will not!

4.Turf races set up perfectly for his brilliant turn of foot.

5. To be the best, you have to beat the best...and unfortunately, the best might be running in France in October this year!

CONS

1.$$$$$ The breeders Cup Classic purse is $5 million, the ARC's purse is 2 million Euro's or about $3.15 million US dollars.

2.  The Classic doesn't require a flight across the pond or running backwards on the course!

3. The Classic is going to be run on synthetic....Big Browns experience on turf and dirt, sets him up for a big run on this "tweener" surface.

4.  No drugs allowed in France, do you chance taking Big Brown off of Lasix and hoping he doesn't bleed?

5.With Curlin playing on the Turf, Heatseeker retired, Behindatthebar out,.....Colonel John, the synthetic specialist,  seems to be the only horse that would be even remotely close to Big Brown as far as class for this race.

6. Beating DaTara handily would do a ton of good for Big Brown's reputation!

It's a tough call, but my thinking is that Big Brown's connections need to first be worried that he can bounce back from the terrible Belmont run.  There are so many questions to be answered before then.....Can he run without the steriods?  Can he handle the 1 1/2 mile distance?  Can he beat anyone anymore?  

His two works have been at a snails pace, they really don't know if he has anything left!  If he flops in the Haskell, I would not be suprised if they retire him, before they hurt his stud fee anymore than the Belmont already has.  He has enough excuses for the Belmont disaster,.....1/4 crack.....starter standing in the track, causing him to veer into Guadacanal....the rear shoe being knocked loose....being checked twice....being pushed to the middle of the track by Tale of Ekati......But a bad loss in the Haskell and he will become a member of the Mark McGuirre, "why does everyone hate me" club!

If he runs a good race in the Haskell,(he doesn't have to win), then wins an easy prep race, and wins the Classic....he will lock up Champion 3 year old horse and I think that that is enough for his connections.  I think this is the course that his connections will take.

But remember...Curlin has not set the turf on fire yet.....a bad lose by him in the Man O War, and the meeting in the Classic could be back on!  It is two horses on different paths, who both have a ton riding on there next race....that's what makes this sport so great!

Thanks for the great question!

Answer 4

Unlike Curlin, Big Brown has more to prove in this country and over this surface.  He proved himself to be a decent horse on the Triple Crown road, but he hasn't beaten everyone that he can beat.  Curlin is moving on to International competition and a different surface because he's beaten everyone he can here in the US on dirt.  If you look at the Dubai World Cup and the Stephen Foster, he's just galloping through it... he toys with his competition for a while then gallops to an easy win.  He never has to try.  Big Brown can't say that yet... he hasn't earned himself that kind of a reputation.  He still has major races to win against good competition on the dirt in the US... particularly, he ought to run against older horses before he thinks about switching to the grass or taking on Curlin.

I believe that Dutrow said in an interview that they might try to schedule a race after the Breeders Cup so that Big Brown can race Curlin.  That's much more likely than for Big Brown to go chasing Curlin to foreign countries.

Answer 5

Nope I think your wrong

One Big Brown has plenty of Great horses here in the U,S,A to beat ,

and why race him France when the can make more money here?

I would keep him here There are better horses then Curlin

that he will have to race against here ,

And no, some might have never been in the big T.C ,,

But Believe me he will have enough good horses here,, to beat ,,

France ,, h**l no

Answer 6

only if he rebounds very well

Answer 7

Big Brown has no hope of beating Curlin in Paris- this is a horse who at best, is questionable as a runner when he's not on steroids like he was earlier this spring. I seriously doubt Big Brown will even be a contender in the American races this fall, let ALONE in Europe, especially now that his trainer has decided to try to run him without drugs to help him out. We'll have a better idea of what he's REALLY capable of after the Haskell next month- but until then, why waste the time speculating about something which likely won't ever happen?? Enough said.

Answer 8

The last reply is without a doubt a joke. Curlin's owners are greedy? Do you realize what you just said? They didn't ship him off to the breeding shed immediately after his championship year as a 3 year old to make the quick buck now did they. They kept their star around to run as a 4 year old which is great for racing.

Curlin giving the grass a shot is awesome. If he wins this weekends Man O' War their will be a lot of talk going back on in the racing world.