Big Brown Wins His Penultimate Race

OCEANPORT, N.J., Sept. 13 -- On Saturday morning, IEAH Stables co-president Michael Iavarone closed the door on his own recent suggestion that Big Brown might remain in training and run next year, and with that, the number of races left in the career of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner dwindled to two.

With his human connections positioning him for a shot at the horse of the year title, Big Brown delivered an electrifying penultimate performance Saturday before an adoring crowd of 17,047, gamely fending off a field of high-quality turf horses to take the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park.

After Big Brown suffered the lone defeat on his otherwise perfect record, an inexplicable last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, the colt made his comeback last month at the New Jersey track in the Haskell Invitational, which he struggled to win. He returned to Monmouth on Saturday for a race designed by track management to attract him and was greeted like a hometown hero.

Fans lined up three deep along both sides of the path leading from the paddock to the track to catch a glimpse of the horse then poured out onto the grandstand apron before the start of the race.

When jockey Kent Desormeaux rode up to the throng filling the winner's circle after the 1 1/8 -mile race, the scene looked like something out of racing's past.

"These are some Big Brown fans," Desormeaux said. "When he hits the track, I haven't heard such a fanfare."

Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. chose to use the grass stakes race as a prep for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita Park. Since his debut on grass last fall at Saratoga, Big Brown had raced exclusively on dirt courses, and the trainer said the race would provide an ideal transition to the synthetic dirt surface at Santa Anita.

Although a prep, the Monmouth Stakes drew a batch of serious racehorses.

When the gate opened, Desormeaux pushed Big Brown right to the lead, hounded out of the chute by 40-1 long shot Get Serious as they ran onto the main course.

Get Serious failed to negotiate the first turn, drifting toward the outside rail and giving Big Brown a sudden advantage. He moved onto the backstretch with a 2 1/2 -length lead, looking relaxed but setting fast fractions -- 46.83 seconds for the half-mile, 1:11.21 for six-eighths.

As the field rounded the final turn, multiple graded stakes winner Proudinsky sat poised in striking position on the inside in third place, while Shakis, a recent stakes winner at Saratoga, loomed on the outside.

"I thought they were going to pass him," Dutrow said. "He put out so much effort early on. But he showed another dimension. He's got heart and guts and ability and everything you want a horse to have."

Jockey Ramon Dominguez swung Proudinsky off the rail and attacked. Sensing the challenge, Big Brown raised his ears and took off. He won by a neck in a fast time of 1:47.41.

"When we cornered for home, I said, 'Oh, my God, I don't have anything left,' " Desormeaux said, "and then he surged and I said, 'We're going to win.' "

Talk eventually turned to 2007 horse of the year Curlin. The camps of both horses have been circling each other for months, and Curlin's owner, Jess Jackson, has said his horse might skip the Classic because of the artificial surface at Santa Anita.

Big Brown's win on Saturday, his first against older horses, raised the ante for a dramatic confrontation.

"I think we have a better racehorse than Curlin," Dutrow said. "But I'm biased."