Rick Dutrow calls his shot......Ooooops!

[Dagger]

Anyone watch the Belmont pre race coverage and see Dutrow guarantee Big Brown's victory? I can't help but think this is karma biting him in the ass!

[TonyL]

i watched that race. and Damn it was funny. Not first but LAST. way to choke there big brown. The trainer guy drenched in sweat with his head hung low was the perfect picture to sum it up. It was so bad I wondered if someone poisoned the horse with a blowdart or something.

[mpozzi]

That was pretty pathetic and there was obviously something wrong with that horse. Guess you just never know ...

Wish I'd put some coin on the winner.

Cheers,
Mary Pozzi

[WS6]

what I wonder is the whole steroids thing. They inject the horses with steroids. This is openly admitted. Do steroids have the same affect on horses the way they do on humans? There was definitely something not right. I don't follow horse races or know really anything about them. I was only watching it because mom wanted to.

[JustinB]

Yes, most trainers give their horses a shot of winstrol once a month. The ironic part about the steriods is with all the negative press in horse racing since they had to put down Eight Belles at the Kentucky Dearby, Dutrow decided not to shoot up Big Brown this month and we all saw what happened yesterday.

[zbugger]

Didn't Big Brown have an issue with a hoof a couple weeks ago? I'm wondering if that wasn't still an issue as well.

[WS6]

Yes, most trainers give their horses a shot of winstrol once a month. The ironic part about the steriods is with all the negative press in horse racing since they had to put down Eight Belles at the Kentucky Dearby, Dutrow decided not to shoot up Big Brown this month and we all saw what happened yesterday.

See, that's what makes no sense to me. I thought it was all about the breeding. Instead it seems it's all about the drugs yet again.

[JustinB]

See, that's what makes no sense to me. I thought it was all about the breeding. Instead it seems it's all about the drugs yet again.

Its is all about breeding. It is not like Big Brown was the only horse getting a shot a winstrol giving him a competitive advantage. It is just ironic that Big Brown came out flat the one month he was not injected with winstrol. PETA and the drive thru media,who know nothing about horse racing, now have their ammo.

[firebird96ta]

...all about the breeding...

It is, and herein lies the problem, IMHO

[1offwizard]

On "Real Sports with Bryant Gumball" on HBO, I believe I heard him correctly say that in the last 8 or so years Dutrow has had at least 1 horse every year test positive for a banned substance.

[WS6]

Its is all about breeding. It is not like Big Brown was the only horse getting a shot a winstrol giving him a competitive advantage. It is just ironic that Big Brown came out flat the one month he was not injected with winstrol. PETA and the drive thru media,who know nothing about horse racing, now have their ammo.

So basically everyone gets together and tries to get the best bred horse they can and then they pump them up on steroids? I knew he wasn't the only horse getting injected but it still seems more about the drugs than the breed, to some extent oviously. I understand you can't take a draft(sp?) horse and inject it with drugs and expect it ro win the Tripple Crown.

Firebird96, are you meaning excessive inbreeding and it's side effects?

[JustinB]

So basically everyone gets together and tries to get the best bred horse they can and then they pump them up on steroids? I knew he wasn't the only horse getting injected but it still seems more about the drugs than the breed, to some extent oviously. I understand you can't take a draft(sp?) horse and inject it with drugs and expect it ro win the Tripple Crown.

Firebird96, are you meaning excessive inbreeding and it's side effects?

one shot of winstrol a month is not what I call pumping them up with steroids. Is is right? No. Do people who invest a ton of money into horses want to have the best stallion and mare for their investment. Of Coarse. Hell we do the same with dogs. Don't let one idiot, Dutrow, skew your whole outlook on horse racing. My grandfather was a trainer so I grew up amongst horse fanatics and you will not find a breed of people who care more about their animals.

[firebird96ta]

Firebird96, are you meaning excessive inbreeding and it's side effects?

A little OT and just my opinions, but:
Technically it's "line breeding" and no, I don't think that's the problem in itself, it's more of WHO is being linebred, etc. Line breeding can be tremendously effective in improving the breed if done correctly. From what I remember, every horse in the derby this year had Native Dancer/Northern Dancer in their no-too-distant lines, both of whom were notorious for being fast when young but having horrid leg structure and passing that on to their progeny. Add to that the fact that horses don't mature until they're at least 5 and the industry is racing them at 2. Look at the racing industry 30-40 years ago; a large number of the horses were still racing at 5, 7, even 9 and over. Today, if you have a TB that's still sound to race at 4 and hasn't had a catastrophic leg injury, you're doing pretty good. It's all about money; the sooner you can get them racing, the sooner you get your cash, and nevermind if the horse is blown out and on a frenchman's plate before its 5th birthday. There's a lot of room for improvement in the horse racing industry, just like any other industry, but they're coming along.

As far as the steriods go, I don't think it was that much of an issue; when you add in the foot problems, the not being worked consistently because of those feet, the length of the race, and the heat that day, is it really surprising that he didn't want to run? Maybe he just didn't feel like going to work that day

And the mental picture of the huge draft on track with the tiny little jockey is making me smile

[WS6]

my ex-girlfriend was a small girl, normal height but skinny. She had a draft horse and the first time I saw him I was blown away at how huge he was. I had seen Clydesdales before but it had been a long time so her horse seemed huge to me. She competed in dressage events with him beating many Arabians and other "more suited" horses. It was low level local stuff but she did very well, and I was and still am very impressed at her control over her horse.

I appreciate y'alls insight into all this. I watched the race with my mom and just had so many questions as an outsider. Thanks