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Big Brown pile of ...

Frayed Knot Jun 07 2008 09:17 PM

I had no rooting interest in the Belmont today or in horse racing in general - but I get a big kick out of these almost triple crown winners they're having almost every year it seems. Mostly I like seeing these self-proclaimed "experts" - many of whom never heard of the nag two months ago - talk about how sure they are that the favorite is the class of the field and is going to run away from the pack. What fuels a lot of this desperation for a TC winner is those racing insiders convinced that having one is going to turn around the fortunes of their dying sport and rocket it back to the forefront of the sports scene like it was half-a-century or more ago. They are, of course, kidding themselves.

DocTee Jun 07 2008 09:45 PM

Pat Forde of ESPN has a great article on today's race and the comeuppance of BB's trainers. Excellent article.

metirish Jun 07 2008 09:46 PM

I didn't watch it but I had a chuckle when I saw it on the news , finished last no less , the trainer put me off big time with his arrogance over the past few weeks.

Nymr83 Jun 07 2008 10:51 PM

whoever bet a horse where the odds were 4-1 against you (you had to pay $4 to win $1 on him) deserves to lose.

Gwreck Jun 07 2008 11:31 PM

="Nymr83"]whoever bet a horse where the odds were 4-1 against you (you had to pay $4 to win $1 on him) deserves to lose. In a pari-mutuel wagering system, there are always going to be crappy "to win" bets. I would suspect that most of the bets on Brown were as part of multiple (ie. trifecta) betting.

Elster88 Jun 07 2008 11:46 PM

Any thread about the Met offense belongs in the baseball forum.

Frayed Knot Jun 08 2008 06:02 AM

Wait a minute, here he comes .... ... 'Big Brown' JUST NOW crossed the finish line.

smg58 Jun 08 2008 08:43 AM

I was there yesterday. First off, shame on the NYRA, who couldn't ensure functioning toilets on a day when 100,000 people showed up. And double shame on a lot of people who booed the poor horse as he plodded down the stretch long after the race ended. Like a lot of people who follow racing I was indifferent to the prospects of a Triple Crown, not just on the account of Big Brown's completely unlikeable connections, but also for the fact that he looked so dominant because his rivals were especially bad, perhaps even historically so. But the Belmont has a way of denying the unworthy. As for the sport, what it needs is star performers actually lasting a few years and running fairly often, but it has allowed the breeding industry to call the shots for so long that the horses are inbred and brittle. As for a horse actually winning the Triple Crown, that only matters if he runs again. I'd been working under the assumption that Big Brown would be done after yesterday regardless of the outcome, and I certainly didn't get a reason to think otherwise after watching the race.

Elster88 Jun 08 2008 09:00 AM

]And double shame on a lot of people who booed the poor horse as he plodded down the stretch long after the race ended. This doesn't bother me so much.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 08 2008 09:05 AM

Yeah. The horse doesn't know he's being booed.

Frayed Knot Jun 08 2008 10:57 AM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yeah. The horse doesn't know he's being booed. According to some it does. Part of the hype that goes on around these races - and particularly the TC hopefuls - are the attempts to impart an almost human personality on the horses to the point where it knows it's competing, it understands winning and strives to do so, and it responds to the crowd and the adulation. ]As for the sport, what it needs is star performers actually lasting a few years and running fairly often, but it has allowed the breeding industry to call the shots for so long that the horses are inbred and brittle. As for a horse actually winning the Triple Crown, that only matters if he runs again All of that certainly won't hurt, but the fact remains that the sport exists for gambling and it's no longer the only legal gambling game in town. There's no way it's ever going to return to the stature it had in the early/mid part of the 20th century even though some seem to think those glory days are just a Triple Crown winner away.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 08 2008 11:18 AM

I can believe that they understand the competition, to some degree, and want to outrun the other horses. But I don't imagine that they understand that "booooo" means disapproval, and that they'd care a whole lot even if they did. Hopefully Big Brown doesn't read the papers, and doesn't listen to WFAN. That's the way athletes are supposed to cope.

metirish Jun 08 2008 11:38 AM

I'm sure Francesa the great horse expert will tell his listeners tomorrow how he got it right , even if he didn't.

Elster88 Jun 08 2008 01:32 PM

I'm sure you'll be listening.

Centerfield Jun 10 2008 09:51 AM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I can believe that they understand the competition, to some degree, and want to outrun the other horses. But I don't imagine that they understand that "booooo" means disapproval, and that they'd care a whole lot even if they did. Hopefully Big Brown doesn't read the papers, and doesn't listen to WFAN. That's the way athletes are supposed to cope. Big Brown may not realize, but don't think other free agent horses won't think twice about wanting to run in New York.

Fman99 Jun 10 2008 10:00 AM

Frayed Knot wrote: ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah. The horse doesn't know he's being booed. According to some it does. Part of the hype that goes on around these races - and particularly the TC hopefuls - are the attempts to impart an almost human personality on the horses to the point where it knows it's competing, it understands winning and strives to do so, and it responds to the crowd and the adulation. Ah, that's just a trick they do by putting peanut butter in his mouth.

SteveJRogers Jun 10 2008 06:29 PM

Frayed Knot wrote: ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah. The horse doesn't know he's being booed. According to some it does. Part of the hype that goes on around these races - and particularly the TC hopefuls - are the attempts to impart an almost human personality on the horses to the point where it knows it's competing, it understands winning and strives to do so, and it responds to the crowd and the adulation. Heh, reminded of Jerry Seinfeld's bit on race horses. How he thinks they really are thinking "Oat bag, I get my oat bag now," the fact that they would be very confused by the fact that they are running in a circle "Weren't we just here?" And if they really knew what happens when they break down they'd be very careful coming down the final stretch of the races.