The gloves are on!

Although a Breeders’ Cup matchup between Curlin and Big Brown still hasn’t been confirmed, the trainers and owners of both respective thoroughbreds have been involved in a duel ever since Big Brown won the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth.

Big Brown’s trainer Rick Dutrow threw the first punch last week, saying that his horse was way better than Curlin. Then Curlin’s owner Jesse Jackson this week dared Dutrow to put his money where his mouth is by accepting an invitation to enter Big Brown in the August 30th Woodward Handicap at Saratoga. If Big Brown’s camp were to accept the invite, Jackson said he’d donate $50,000 to Anna House, the Belmont Park child-care facility for backstretch workers.

“Dutrow’s recent remarks about Curlin inspired me to offer to get these two great horses to race at the Spa,” Jackson said. “Imagine Curlin against Big Brown on a legendary track ? It would be thoroughbred racing at its very best and in the name of a great cause.”

Alas, Michael Iavarone, co-president of IEAH Stables and co-owner of Big Brown, turned down Jackson’s offer and then threw in a counter offer. “The day of the Woodward, we’re challenging them on the basketball court at Saratoga,” the Massapequa resident said. “It’ll be three-on-three: me, Rick and Kent Desormeaux against Jackson, Steve Asmussen and Robby Albarado.” (Read the rest of this story here.)

It would be a shame if neither horse ran in the Breeders’ Cup, but watching the two champions compete in the same race would make for some must-see TV.

Thinking about betting on the Breeders’ Cup? Get all your Breeders’ Cup odds here.

Does Big Brown still have enough left to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic this October? He has a record of six wins in seven starts, wining most of those races with ease against the best thoroughbreds in the world. He’s coming off a heroic win at the Haskell Invitational, but when one considers the field he faced it wasn’t an impressive victory at all.

If 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin returns to defend his Breeders’ Cup Classic title, Big Brown’s chances diminish greatly. It’s still unknown if Curlin will run in the Classic, Jess Jackson may run him in the Breeders’ Cup Turf or in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 5 in Paris.

Big Brown does not seem like the horse that dominated his first five starts. Does he have another big race in him against a top field? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Rick Dutrow should learn to keep his big yap shut. Following Big Brown’s win on Sunday at the Haskell Invitational, the mouthy trainer went looking for a fight and he may have found one with Curlin’s owner Jesse Jackson. Seems Dutrow figures his horse to be the better horse — by a long shot — and he ain’t afraid to defend his opinion.

“Curlin couldn’t win the Derby, we could,” said Dutrow. “Curlin couldn’t win the Haskell. We could. Curlin got beat by a filly. We haven’t. Our horse is undefeated on grass. Curlin isn’t. I don’t know why people think Curlin is such a good horse. We’re way better than Curlin.”

Them’s fighting words, right? Well, Jackson had this to say about Dutrow after he caught wind of what was being said about his prized thoroughbred:

“I think it’s bad for racing to have trash talk,” Jackson said. “To run down another guy’s horse, I don’t think it’s right. It demeans the industry. I’d like to meet Big Brown, preferably on the dirt, which is each one’s best surface, but I think they’re considering retiring Big Brown before we have a chance to meet him.”

At this point it is not known what Big Brown’s next race will be, but it’s looking like Curlin will make his next start in the 1 1/8-mile grade I Woodward Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 30.

Big Brown made his return Sunday in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park with a 1 3/4 length win over a field of six weak rivals. His performance was not the dominant one we got used to in his earlier races, but the win gets him into the $5 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on October 25th.

Neither trainer Rick Dutrow nor co-owner Michael Iavarone was willing to commit to Big Brown’s next race. “I think right now Rick will evaluate him and we’ll plan a sensible campaign,” said Iavarone. “The Breeders’ Cup Classic is the ultimate goal.”

Big Brown bounded out of the gate, then relinquished the lead to Cool Coal in the backstretch. Only in the final 100 yards did Big Brown respond to Kent Desormeaux and close the gap for the victory. He improves to six wins in seven starts, and earnings of $3.3 million.

Big Brown Gets Big Win

Although he appeared to be struggling during the opening stretch, Big Brown rebounded big time to win the $1 Million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on Sunday with a winning time of 1:48 1/5. Coal Play came in second while Cool Coal Man finished in third.

A crowd of around 44,000 was on hand to see Big Brown make his triumphant return to the track. In his last race, Big Brown was the favorite to win the Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. But rather than win the race — Big Brown finished dead last.

That was not to be the case today.

This time around Kent Desormeaux did not pull back on the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner — he instead pushed the horse to make a late run for the finish line.

Here are the Haskell Invitational race results.
Horse Win Place Show
4 Big Brown 2.40 2.10 2.10
6 Coal Play 8.00 4.20
2 Cool Coal Man 2.80

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Big Brown looking very shiny and very happy.

According to Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner looks as good as ever going into Sunday’s $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. (At press time, Big Brown is the 1-2 favorite.)

“From what happened in his last start, it’s kind of hard for me to feel as confident as I was for the Derby, but I feel as confident as I can be that he’s going to go out there and run his race,” Dutrow said. “Except for his last start, he’s done everything that you would want a horse to do.”

Big Brown’s last start was the Belmont Stakes. The celebrated colt was guaranteed to win (by Dutrow) but ended up placing dead last. Going into Sunday’s race, Big Brown doesn’t appear to be suffering from any kind of injury — no cracked hoof — and he looks happy.

“If everything goes perfect, I’d like to breeze him on Friday (at Aqueduct) and ship down to Monmouth on Saturday,” Dutrow said. “He looks amazing. He’s shiny, he’s happy. He looks as good as he always has.”

Following this weekend’s Haskell Invitational is another huge goal: the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

Big Brown had his fourth workout last week since finishing last the Belmont Stakes. He ran five furlongs in 59 1/5 and looked fit in preparation for the 141st Haskell Invitational on August 3rd. He worked out with an older horse named True Dancer and blew pass him in workout, looking to be back in the form we saw in the first two jewels of the Triple Crown.

“He worked awesome” said owner Michael Iavarone. “Michelle broke him a length behind True Dancer. She said she drafted him in behind him True Dancer and he sat there nice and quiet. When she took him to the outside at the three-eighths pole he absolutely blew by the other horse (by five lengths), and she couldn’t even pull him up after the work. We’re over the moon. He’s right on course and hasn’t missed a beat. The 3rd can’t come soon enough.”

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Big Brown captured the hopes of racing fans over the last few months. We all hoped to see the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years, but he fizzled in the Belmont and that dream was lost. So does this mean that Big Brown is finished? It could be.

Most great horses have had bad races where they just weren’t up to running at their best. They are animals after all, not machines that we can depend on performing as long as appropriate mechanical preparations are done before the race. But Big Brown has a pedigree that points to him having a short career. He was bred for strength, not longevity, and both his sire and dam had dominant yet short racing careers.

We will find out whether or not Big Brown has anything left in the tank at the $1M Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on August 3rd.

Big Brown update: Did a loose shoe cause Big Brown to lose the Belmont Stakes? Read this article.

After a massively disappointing last-place finish at the Belmont Stakes, Big Brown is set to make a triumphant return to horse racing at Monmouth Park Racetrack in August. (And by triumphant I mean brave.)

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner will be running in the Haskell Invitational on August 3, 2008 in Oceanport, New Jersey. A major race for three year olds (in between the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup), the Haskell Invitational offers a purse of US $1,000,000.

“The Haskell’s clearly a first target right now,” said Michael Iavarone, who heads the International Equine Acquisitions Holdings (IEAH) Inc. stable that owns 75-percent of Big Brown.

Big Brown’s first race back following the Belmont Stakes wasn’t supposed to happen until August (the Travers in Saratoga), but his owners felt an earlier return would be favorable.

“We’re trying to avoid certain things that happened in the Belmont Stakes,” Iavarone said. “We’re trying to avoid the heat; it’s a lot more hot and humid (at Saratoga), it’s a lot cooler down by the Jersey Shore. More importantly is the surface. It’s a lot tighter racetrack, more conducive to his style.”

Last year’s winner at 3/1 odds was Any Given Saturday, who put away the field by 4 1/2 lengths.

Even though Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow, is denying that steroids (or a lack thereof) played a role in the colt’s monumental loss at the 2008 Belmont Stakes last Saturday, he’s putting the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner back on the juice.

“He doesn’t need any drugs; the Winstrol had nothing to do with it,” Dutrow said.

Still, Big Brown is expected to get a shot of the stuff this weekend and is expected to start training next week for his next race, the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on August 23, before he eventually makes his appearance at the Breeders’ Cup.

Steroid use is legal in 28 U.S. States but the National Thoroughbred Racing Association is looking to ban steroids from all racetracks by next year.

Does Dutrow still blame Big Brown’s jockey for the huge loss?

Both trainer and jockey met on Wednesday, the first meeting since Saturday’s loss at Belmont Park. Dutrow told ESPN that they’re “back on target” and that “I just feel better because he came by to talk about the Belmont ride.”

That’s a far cry from what he had to say about jockey Kent Desormeaux earlier this week. Obviously still dumbfounded by what transpired at the Belmont Stakes, Dutrow said: “I’m sure Big Brown didn’t have any idea what the hell was going on going into the first turn the way Desormeaux was switching him all over the damn track.”