By John Scheinman
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, August 3, 2008

Two months after Big Brown's shocking last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, the colt's part-owner, Michael Iavarone, and trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. still have not found a satisfactory answer to explain what happened.

What they do know, however, is that if the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner tosses another dud this afternoon in the Grade I $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., his racing days are over.

"If he doesn't run his race, it's not about whether he's beaten by horses that are better, it's something's wrong," said Iavarone, co-president of IEAH Stables, which races Big Brown. "If he doesn't run his race, we'd have to [retire him]. He's supposed to win; he was supposed to win the Belmont. Anything less than a win, something's not right. He's not only likely the best 3-year-old; he may be the best horse out there. There are still people saying they'd love to see Big Brown [face 2007 horse of the year] Curlin. People are willing to forgive the Belmont."

The 1-2 morning-line odds assigned Big Brown for the 1 1/8 -mile dirt race make it clear he is expected to crush his six rivals in the Haskell. Only one other horse in the field, the Nick Zito-trained Florida Derby winner Cool Coal Man, has won a graded stakes race.

Big Brown has tumbled from the limelight since June 7, when he appeared unable to get comfortable in the 1 1/2 -mile Belmont for jockey Kent Desormeaux, who pulled him up on the far turn rather than persevere with a beaten horse. Since then, the colt's story has taken a back seat to the frictional relationship between Iavarone and Dutrow, who has a long history of drug violations in the sport.

Since the Belmont, the trainer, who grew up in Maryland and turns 48 on Tuesday, has seemingly had his radar locked in on both controversy and success.

On June 22, Iavarone announced that IEAH Stables runners, including Big Brown, would begin racing drug- and steroid-free except for the use of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix. Three days later, he was embarrassed when racing stewards in Kentucky handed Dutrow a 15-day suspension after a test on his turf sprinter Salute the Count found twice the permitted amount of the fat-burning stimulant clenbuterol in the horse's system following a race May 2 at Churchill Downs.

Dutrow, who trains the horse for another client, did not dispute the violation but has filed an appeal.

In an interview with ESPN on July 26, Iavarone said he told Dutrow he would be taking Big Brown and other horses from him, but that a major investor talked him out of it. Minutes later, on the same telecast, Dutrow denied Iavarone said any such thing.

"Mike never told me he was taking the horses," Dutrow said last week in a conference call with reporters. "I think that if Mike were going to take them, he would just take them instead of just telling me he was going to take them. Mike's not the threatening type of guy, you know?"

It couldn't have hurt Dutrow's cause that his IEAH runners were in spectacular form: On June 28, lightly regarded Frost Giant won the Grade I Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park at odds of 40-1. Two weeks later, Benny the Bull, the leading sprinter in the country, took the Grade II Smile on July 12 at Calder -- his fifth straight victory -- earning an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup. The next day, the brilliant turf miler Kip Deville easily scored in the Poker Handicap at Belmont.

IEAH has won eight Grade I races this year with six different horses and three trainers. The stable has earned more than $7.3 million, the lion's share with Dutrow-trained horses.

"With Rick, I think what [the media] is doing is making it a soap opera," Iavarone said. "I was upset with Rick for one reason -- that he didn't tell me he had a positive [test] when we came out to the world that we were going medication-free. I voiced my opinion strongly to Rick, and he told me it would never happen again."

Big Brown has worked sensationally for the Haskell, particularly in a six-furlong drill in 1 minute 10.86 seconds July 26 at Aqueduct. He breezed three furlongs on the turf course at the track Friday as "a lung-opener," Iavarone said.

Once full of bravado in predicting victory for Big Brown, Dutrow enters the Haskell far more subdued and guarded.

"It's hard for me to feel as confident as I did for the Derby and the other races," he said. "This race here is more important than any race for him right now. I have a feeling a whole lot depends on what happens Sunday at Monmouth."