The Haskell

Please note--my 300th post!!! Thanks to you my faithful readers for continuing to read...

So the buzz is starting for this Sunday's Haskell at Monmouth Park and all are wondering if the "real" Big Brown is going to be on hand. I can assure you of one thing. If his alter-ego, the one who was pulled up in the Belmont, shows up, it will be the last time you see either of them on a race track.

The Haskell is a great race. Way back in 1987, Bet Twice won the Haskell on a glorious August day with sparkling blue skies and low humidity. Monmouth gets those cool, ocean breezes and on a beautiful summer day, there really is no nicer place to be. The track is decorated with thousands of red geraniums in window boxes and it has a country-fair kind of feel. Not quite as country-fair as Saratoga but a great place to be, especially when all is right with your horse.

Which begs the question, of course, if all is right with Big Brown. Rick Dutrow has been keeping a low profile lately and the horse seems to be training well, but you never know. I suppose we should assume that Big Brown will be racing steroid-free since that is what the racing stable that owns him, IEAH, announced, but I am pretty sure he will run on lasix as do most horses these days. I don't think we will know his medication status given the muzzle that has been placed on his trainer, but, once again, you never know.

As for his owners, spokesperson Michael Iavarone is pretty sure we are going to see the real Big Brown show up. "I know there are doubts that maybe Big Brown wasn't that good," he told the New York Times. "I'm pretty sure, though, those doubts will be dispelled after Sunday."

Here's my question for him: When will you learn? Just be quiet and don't make any predictions. Be gracious, humble ("We hope he runs well and are looking forward to the race....") and sporting and let the horse do your talking.

Oh, I forgot. He doesn't know how to listen.