Some of you might have seen the race.

That 1 mile and a 1/2 race has separated the good from the great before and it did it again Saturday. Jockey is getting alot of flack but even if it was his fault his fighting with the horse into the first turn it might have been a bad case of nerves as he clearly wanted Big Brown to run on the outside of the early pacesetters like in the Derby and Preakness and was determined to get him out there even if it meant fighting with him.

It's a profession of split second decisions and I am sure he would do it differently if given a second chance. Kent D. has been a world class rider for a long time and hopefully this won't keep him down for too long.

For those of us on this board who know about the horse racing game know that breeding is everything. Can it be considered a big upset when Big Brown's sire (father) was a horse that never won a race past 6 furlongs (3/4 of a mile) and was asked to win at 1 1/2 miles? It was something that he won at 1 1/4 miles and 1 3/16 miles, the distance of the two prior races.

With that said the subpar, or what looked like subpar (the winner ran a hell of a race), competition in the race should have served the Triple Crown up to him on a silver platter. Its going to be a long wait for another crown winner I believe.

Anyway, there might have been a bunch of Big Brown backers who lost money Saturday but he will come out on top in the end. A couple more races and then he will be spending the rest of his life at his own personal bordello (breeding shed)...lol

-- Modified on 6/10/2008 1:24:54 PM

-- Modified on 6/10/2008 1:26:35 PM

I am thrilled to death personally. I took the second choice, Denis of Cork the four horse and hooked him up 4-all-all, all-4-all,and all--all-4 in the trifecta. Loved cashing two tickets 6-4-9 AND 6-4-8 with the dead heat for show, both tri's paid over 3 grand each. Got to love it when the odd on favorite runs out.

I wish I could say it was skill, but I just couldn't bring myself to bet on as prohibitive a chalk as Big Brown, especially considering none of the last five or six odds on favorites have won the Belmont either.

...what did brown showers ever do to you to deserve that comment?

Yeah that is one hell of a score congrats go out big time from me to you. I am a bit of an oddity and not your typical horse player as I have always looked at it as a test of skill more than a way to make money. I am also the poster boy for what a chalk player is, not that I just bet favorites, my picks just usually end up being what most others are betting on. So 3 thou is just a payoff that I look at in awe especially because my track day is Monday for simulcasts so the pools are quite a bit smaller and the only way you get that payoff is if you put together a few double digit longshots that have far less ability than any of those horses that ran in the Belmont.

With all the money being put on that race on Big Brown it was a good race to try to exclude him in a tri or exacta bet. I could just not fathom 3 horses beating him out of that bunch. Da Tara went off 38-1 longest shot on the board,the maiden (#2) went off 22-1. Not sure what was up with that. Da Tara was the only speed in the race and shouldn't have been the longest shot on the board. Good for you though however.

Lucky dog there on the two tri payoffs.

Yeah I had an winning exacta box that paid off twice with a dead heat Monday night at Mountaineer Park. $13.40 is a bit less that 3 thou though so I think you were probably more thrilled than I.

I hardly ever bet the triple crown races but I did bet the Belmont. Had Big Brown with Denis of Cork and Tale of Ekati in a $1 Tri Box. That ticket probably landed in a landfill today...lol

but I certainly didn't make a living by betting the way I did Saturday. As you know, you don't handicap three thousand dollar tri's.

I wish I could claim skill on Saturday, but if I did any knowledgeable horse player would know I was either full of shit or an ameteur pretender. T took a semi educated flyer and got lucky. As the saying goes "I'd rather be lucky than good"

Did you see the price on the Superfectas? Both of them paid almost $50k.

should be spent foolishly and immediately. Since I won't be receiving a stimulus check, I guess this will have to do. lol

Sure is , hell WilberFollowme cannot get my cousin MrFollowmeEd to walk that far much less run it in that heat.


Thank You
2008=27


BTW ....I do not bet on horses

And later in my teens my Dad had his own stables

Of Racing horses  

I watched hours of pre-race interviews

I can understand how unsettling a big race can be

The millions of $$$'s waged

And can you imagine the HEAT of it all

The last leg of the triple crown asks sprinters to become long distance runners

I am also a runner

Don't ask me to run hard for a mile and a half when my best race is a half mile

I might not finish

Especially if it is 100 degrees outside and I have shin splints

Hopefully I didn't seem as if I was implying that because you scored big that I thought it was your profession...lol. My grandfather always used to tell me that those that made their living at the track could certainly tell you of some good days and some bad ones...lol

I wouldn't say that playing Denis of Cork like you did was lacking skill. The horse got time off after passing 17 horses to finish third in the Derby (he was 20th and last in the early stages of that race) and trainer Carroll is an Englishman and they run longer distances over there regularly. Had Big Brown won or of course had Denis not hit 1-2-3 then you would have lost but not a bad play in my opinion. 3 thou tri's can be had with skill,awesome skill, but your right, better have just as much luck as well.

Those supers had the three biggest shots in the field in there. Zito and Pletcher trained 1st 3rd and 4th (dead heat). So how long does it take to fill out one of those tax forms you have to fill out if you hit a score over $600?? As I said earlier us chalk players dont have that much fun and I am still waiting for an opportunity to fill one out for a score that big.

There was a carryover of 1.5 million dollars at Belmont on the Pick six today as a result of all the money bet on Saturday. I think I heard that 4.4 million was wagered just today on that big pot. I never play those pick 4's or pick 6's and full fields at Belmont on the turf will not change that,very very tough.

-- Modified on 6/11/2008 1:42:05 PM

-- Modified on 6/11/2008 1:42:45 PM

Sure they all had to run in the same heat but he might not have cared for it more than the others. Not something that is being talked about but I think it might have factored.

Big Brown just didn't race enough before the Ky Derby to prep him for the rigors of 3 races in five weeks. Only three races with a month or more in between was what his trainer decided was enough. The horse had foot problems but thats a whole other issue, the breeding industry and what it has done to the longevity and health of the horses. I dont think they should make the triple crown any easier to win at all however.

I wouldn't call 1 mile 1/4 a sprint or 1 mile 3/16. Anything over 6 furlongs is not a sprint in my opinion.

I have read that some wanted to see Kent D. be fined and/or suspended for pulling up Big Brown in the Belmont for the reason that he should have kept urging Big Brown for the purpose of finishing 4th. Some superfecta players claim that they were cheated.

Normally I might agree. But had anything happened to Big Brown then I am sure PETA would have had their legions at every track in America the next day and may well have targeted anyone and anything connected with the sport. I respect the fact that Kent cared about the horse enough to pull him up when he thought something was wrong, even if there wasn't.

With the knee jerk reaction to change things and make laws that comes with any bad publicity to anything now days, those angry with Kent might not have had a sport to follow had he broke down. If you factor in how many horses run each day at tracks across America the percentage of breakdowns are very very low. The public however, prodded by the media,groups like PETA,et-al would have been lead to believe it is common place had it happened to Big Brown.

Good move by Kent. Those supers are hard as hell to hit anyway,all that needs to happen is for one horse to crap out and you've lost.

if Big Brown had finished fourth. The super paid the equivalent of $95,946 with the 6489 and the 6498 combined, If  Big Brown had come in, it might not have paid even as much as the tri.

I too am glad the jockey pulled him up, there was no reason to risk injury when he was no longer in contention. If I had money on him I might feel different, but I would be wrong.