Very Mixed Feelings

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

cant blame the horse..

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

It's not a good idea to get behind any horse...unless your name is sumitas and the horse is Golden...err nvmd.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

cant blame the horse..

obviously. but doesn't mean you have to root for him either. he'll have a cloud of suspicion over his head, and no one to blame but his owners. why? look who they hired, look at who trained previously.

[fpsoxfan]

Just for the record, I'll be rooting for Big Brown to win the Triple Crown. Since I've been involved in the game I've never seen it happen. I don't have any care in the world as to who the owners are. For me it doesn't have to be a "cookie cutter" deal where everyone is in love with the horse and connections. Some of you feel differently, and that's fine. Let's just get through the rest of this without another breakdown. Don't give any more ammo to these asswipes from PETA.

[alphanumeric1]

Originally Posted by Danzig

no. i was completely disgusted that big brown won. then the news came of the filly, and that just added to my already incredibly low feelings.

i can't remember every rooting against a horse as much as i did this one. of course it helped my perspective when someone else actually said they wanted him to be injured (but not bad ) as i would not wish harm to the horse...but, you have a horse with only four starts, with a scumbag trainer and scumbag owners.
not the horses fault, but certainly not a horse you can get behind.

I can't help but disagree. I think the Big Brown is awesome and I wish him the best. Yes..his trainer and owners are NOT endearing. That's being kind! But don't forget Curlin, owned by fen-phen fraudsters. These great animals can't pick their connections. Root for the horse and this great sport. We need heros.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

Originally Posted by Danzig

obviously. but doesn't mean you have to root for him either. he'll have a cloud of suspicion over his head, and no one to blame but his owners. why? look who they hired, look at who trained previously.

i will root for him all the way...i dont see any reason to think hes been medicated..just look at him run........hes desroyed all he faced sence the first time he ran..the sad thing is there should be about 16 more with him this year..that have that ability..to run figs over 105........

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by alphanumeric1

I can't help but disagree. I think the Big Brown is awesome and I wish him the best. Yes..his trainer and owners are NOT endearing. That's being kind! But don't forget Curlin, owned by fen-phen fraudsters. These great animals can't pick their connections. Root for the horse and this great sport. We need heros.

i just think that wins by horses for shady connections somehow glosses over their uh...'contributions' to the sport. as tho they achieve legitimacy by having a top horse. sort of like steve asmussen last year. he went from pariah down a years suspension for two huge drug positives (the second six month suspension was waived for some reason) to being a media darling... all past transgressions seemingly forgotten.

[alphanumeric1]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i just think that wins by horses for shady connections somehow glosses over their uh...'contributions' to the sport. as tho they achieve legitimacy by having a top horse. sort of like steve asmussen last year. he went from pariah down a years suspension for two huge drug positives (the second six month suspension was waived for some reason) to being a media darling... all past transgressions seemingly forgotten.

I'm with you on the human connections. The cream doesn't rise to the top..it seems like the scum rises to the top. Asmussen and Dutrow are not trainers for the ages.
To me it's about the horses...I can't forget the excitement of seeing Affirmed/Alydar (yes, I'm admitting my age) in the Belmont. I want to see a horse like this again. This horse seems like he could be that kind. That will be the fun will be in rooting for Brown. I'd be hard pressed to remember the names of the horses involved in some of my biggest scores at the track but I still have the uncashed $2 win ticket on Affirmed.
Good luck to you and all the lively posters on DT.

[Payson Dave]

hmmmm I'm not so sure that Laz Barrera was squeaky clean.

[alphanumeric1]

Originally Posted by Payson Dave

hmmmm I'm not so sure that Laz Barrera was squeaky clean.

Touché.

[Zippy Chippy]

Just like you can't pick your parents, a horse can't pick his or her connections. I understand why people feel the way they do, but in the end the only thing that matters is the horse. As much as I hate that he beat me on Saturday, I can root for Big Brown because the only thing he is guilty of is winning race after race.

[Danzig]

yeah, four times! he just passed danzig for wins in a row.

no, seriously...i had a thought. maybe for dutrow and assmussen, it's poetic justice. they remain in a sport( that if it had the same teeth as other sports, they would NOT still be a part of) and manage to find a legit horse. but now (thanks to karma?) they'll always feel slighted, because the horse will always be questioned..because of their shady, cheating, conniving, thieving pasts. so, they'll always be defensive, and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it but take it.
of course, they'll laugh all the way to the bank-but part of them will always feel this slight, the doubt some will have that the horse really did it the right way.

[westcoastinvader]

I do think the competion or lack there of (so far) is an issue. Right now, he looks much the best of a shallow 3 year old pool.

I'm old enough to remember Seattle Slew quite well, and in fact walked in Belmont at about 6AM or so on the morning of his Triple Crown win and ended up with primo seats at the finish line. I'll never forget it, and still have at least one uncashed $2 dollar ticket.

Point is, that Seattle Slew had all kinds of naysayers during his unbeaten run up to and through the Triple Crown. Lots of 'em.

At Belmont, not only was he "no Secretariat" to fans in the stands before the race that day, he was also "no Forego."

"He's just run well enough to win against mediocre horses" was the near universal mindset of racing fans and writers in 1977, with visions of Secretariat fresh in the mind.

I heard it so much at the time, I sort of believed it myself.

That's why I was especially happy in the years after his Triple Crown that he so excelled as a stallion.

Even more proof for eternity Seattle Slew was the real deal.

[westcoastinvader]

For the record, there's no way I can pull against an undefeated Kentucky Derby winner in the remaining Triple Crown races.

Especially one who won the Florida Derby, and then the Kentucky Derby in such spectacular and dominating fashion.

[_ed_]

I have mixed feelings too, for the reasons already mentioned but another reason I don't really want the TC to be won this year is because I don't want to have to see that Derby over and over again in the future with what happened to poor Eight Belles.

[cowgirlintexas]

Reminds me a bit of when Slew was going for the triple and all the negative stuff surrounding his owners/trainer etc. I hated reading the B.S but still enjoyed seeing the horse win.

[Split Rock]

Very interesting and passionate opinions here.

Big Brown is a very talented colt. There is little doubt in that. However, he is trained and owned by people that make my skin crawl.

I have no problem with a guy like Dutrow doing drugs himself. Makes no difference to me. I do have a serious problem with him drugging his horses and winning purses at the expense of other accomplished horseman. It forces trainers (and owners) into a moral decision about whether to stay honest and lose and pair up with the "dark side" in order to win.

I still get chills watching Easy Goer/Sunday Silence or Ferninand/Alysheba or Secretariat. So, as a horse racing fan, I cannot help feel that Big Brown is where he is based in part (and probably a large part) on the fact that he has illegal substances helping him. Do I know that for a fact? Of course not. But where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Anyone handicapping Rick Dutrow (and his brother) can easily see there is an uncommon skill at winning with anything. Seasoned horse players are not idiots and are probably more adapt at spotting falsities than any outside investigator.

As far as the owners go, not a lot to say other than they appear to have zero class and have little interest in the betterment of the game. They want to make money, which is fine, but their actions and attitudes are hard to believe. Very smug, self important and arrogant. In a game like horse racing, where most owners fit that bill (rich, arrogant, etc) it is amazingly impressive that these owners can stand out in that category.

The whole thing (Dutrow, IAEH, drugs, breakdowns, excessive whipping, no ADW options on many tracks, high takeout in all pools, charging for admission, lack of technology improvements) just makes me turned off to the game. As a sport, it hardly reaches the national map. It won't be long until the Kentucky Derby is broadcast on ESPN, then on TNT, then maybe on the GAME network. Go out and look at ESPN and try and find it on their hyperlinks. It shows up with Mixed Martial Arts, Lacrosse and the WNBA...and after the AFL. Not even sure what the AFL is....

[Danzig]

arena football league i bet.

[MaTH716]

I was kind of wishy washy leading up for the Preakness this week. After watching the race, I am on the bandwagon and have a case of TC fever. I still think that this is a bad year for 3-year olds, but the way that he disposed of that field was ridiculous. I thought for a sec that they might get him going in the the turn, then I saw Kent give a look behind him and next thing I knew he was going going gone. I hope he comes out of the race ok and goes to Belmont with his A-game. I am even considering taking my son.

I have to admit, I didn't watch the Dutrow and the corporation accept the trophy and thankfully it seemed that all the horses came home ok. Both of those factors make me able just to focus on the horse's remarkable performance. Obviously, that wasn't the case 2 weeks ago. Even though the rest of the field might not be that strong doesn't change the fact that BB destroyed them after racing 2 weeks ago. Same thing goes for the Belmont, if he does it it will be 3 wins in 5 weeks. The mixed feelings are gone, I am hoping to see history in 3 weeks!

[geeker2]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

The mixed feelings are gone, I am hoping to see history in 3 weeks!

716 I agree..this is now exciting and as a big fan how can you not help it!