Horse racing: Big Brown returns to turf in Classic prep

For the first time since his eye-popping debut victory at Saratoga Race Course 53 weeks ago, Big Brown makes his return to the green today.

A four-time Grade I winner on dirt and the undisputed top 3-year-old male in the country, Big Brown tackles older horses for the first time in the inaugural Monmouth Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Custom-made on the date and surface sought by majority owner IEAH Stable and trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the 11⁄8-mile event will offer a $500,000 purse if Big Brown runs; $200,000 if he doesn’t.

Carded as the ninth of 10 races with a post time of 4:52 p.m., the Monmouth Stakes will be televised live on the TVG Network. Coverage will begin at 4:30.

“I would expect that if Big Brown likes things over there, I don’t care who’s up to challenge him,” the Aqueduct-based Dutrow said on a national teleconference this week. “He’s a very, very good horse, and he’s better on the grass.

“I really don’t care who shows up for the race. We’re going to take whatever comes, and if Brown shows up, I’m sure everybody will love watching him run, you know?”

Big Brown was trained by Pat Reynolds and owned entirely by Paul Pompa Jr. when he romped by 111⁄4 lengths in a 11⁄16-mile maiden race over Saratoga’s turf on closing day of the 2007 meet.

Pompa soon sold majority interest in the Boundary colt to IEAH, who transferred Big Brown to Dutrow. Since then, the horse overcame foot problems to reel off wins in the Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Haskell, also finishing last in the Belmont Stakes with the Triple Crown on the line.

“I wanted a race 40 days before the Breeders’ Cup,” Dutrow said. “We searched around, and we

really didn’t see anything that we liked, so we kind of asked New York and Philly and Monmouth to look for a spot around the 13th or 15th. I thought Big Brown needed that kind of timing to come out of his last race.

“All three tracks were more than willing to help us out. I was thinking that he doesn’t have any more dirt races left in his career, so we might as well run him on the grass. He’s better on the grass, and that seems to equate a little bit toward the [synthetic surfaces], so that’s what the whole thing was about. We’re satisfied enough with everything right now.”

The BC Classic will be run

Oct. 25 at Santa Anita over the track’s newly installed Pro-Ride surface.

Having earned more than

$3.3 million, Big Brown will be retired at the end of 2008. He has worked steadily on the Aqueduct turf, including five furlongs in 1:05.35 on Tuesday.

“He always has breezed better on the grass,” Dutrow said. “He went good on the dirt, too, but he just seems to be better on the grass. All of my riders, which include [Edgar] Prado, Cornelio [Velasquez],

Michelle [Nevin], Rudy [Rodriguez], they all like him more on the grass. So, I have to think that he’s probably better on the grass.”

Among the challengers to Big Brown are Shakis, back-to-back winner of Saratoga’s Grade II Bernard Baruch, and fellow multiple graded-stakes winners Silver Tree and Proudinsky.

“He’s a top horse, and Rick’s a great horse trainer. I loved his first race at Saratoga on the turf, so there’s no doubt that he turfs very well,” said Kiaran McLaughlin, Saratoga’s 2008 meet champion who will saddle Shakis.

“We’re very confident, or we wouldn’t be running. We’re not running just to fill the race, we’re running to win the race, and we feel like we can win the race. We’re an older proven horse at nine furlongs on the turf, and he’s a 3-year-old, and they only run once on it. He was impressive when he won, and ran on it, but he’s been running against 3-year-olds on the dirt, so let’s see how it goes. But we like our chances.”

Five Monmouth-based horses will also take their shot at Big Brown, led by Kiss the Kid, a winner on dirt and turf at the track who ran third in the Grade III Iselin last time out.

“I’m the underdog, so there’s no pressure on me,” trainer Amy Tarrant said. “This is my home track so I just thought, ‘Why not do it?’ It’s kind of adventuresome, but I’ve been accused of being rather adventuresome in my horses; you never know.

“Big Brown is a great horse, he’s a champion, so running against him is fun. If we were ever to pull that off, I wouldn’t feel bad for him at all, because he’s already a champion. I just think it helps my horse’s reputation, you know, so I’d be tickled to death, really.”

Dutrow said that Big Brown will run in today’s race even if the rain which is forecast forces a switch to the main track.

“He’s just a special horse,” Dutrow said. “Hopefully, we get to see him run big these next two starts. Every time he stepped foot on the track, except for the Belmont, he has electrified the crowd. His best surace is grass, and I can’t wait for everybody to watch him run again.”

EARLY EDUCATION

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is again offering classes for preschoolers from 10 to 11 on Wednesday mornings, starting Sept. 17.

Sessions last six weeks throughout the school year. One free introductory class is offered this month only.

Classes consist of story time, number and letter learning and a craft project. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Admission is $25 per child, with museum members receiving a 15 percent discount. Older children may attend for one class at a cost of $5 per child. Space is limited, and reservations are required.

For more information or to

reserve a spot, contact Karen Wheaton at 584-0400, extension 118.

EASY GAME

Daily Racing Form has launched a breakthrough Web version of the Formulator handicapping software it introduced in 2000.

Able to customize past performance information to suit their specific needs, horseplayers can now seamlessly access Formulator Web through www.drf.com, with no potential conflicts between the software and Vista or Mac operating systems.

In the new system, horseplayers will continue to be able to view and print customized online PPs, merge workouts into running lines, add personalized horse trip notes, access jockey stats, speed figure graphs, workout tabs, and more.

Basic, enhanced and deluxe subscription levels are offered, starting at $2.50 for a single Formulator Web basic racecard. Discounts are available for long-term plans.

WORKING OUT

Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin breezed Monday on the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Springs, his first work since winning the Grade I Woodward at Saratoga on Aug. 30.

With regular exercise rider Carlos Rosas aboard, Curlin went an easy half-mile in :51.34. He is scheduled to work again at the Oklahoma on Monday and on Sept. 22, prior to his next anticipated start in the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup

Sept. 27 at Belmont Park.

“He’s in great physical shape,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “He came out of the Woodward in good order, and he worked very well. He went real smooth. We weren’t looking for much.”

His Woodward victory put Curlin second on the all-time North American earnings list with $9,976,800. A Jockey Club win would push him past Cigar, and make him the first to top $10 million.

WEEKEND STAKES

Belmont Park serves up four graded stakes today, led by the Grade I Gazelle for 3-year-old fillies at 11⁄8 miles.

Also on tap is the Grade III

Noble Damsel for females 3 and up on turf, and a pair of Grade II $250,000

juvenile stakes — the Futurity for males and the Matron for

females.

A narrow loser to Proud Spell in the Grade I Alabama at Saratoga, Music Note returns to headline the Gazelle. Three-for-4 lifetime at Belmont, she’ll face only four rivals, including unproven but improving Awesome I Am.

French import Sefroua will make her U.S. debut in the Noble Damsel at low weight of 113 pounds, six fewer than graded-stakes winner Criminologist.

McLaughlin will saddle a pair of impressive Saratoga maiden winners, Charitable Man and

Girolamo, in the Futurity, which drew a field of seven, including two from trainer Larry Jones: High Mesa and Friesan Fire.

Nine were entered in the Matron, six of them coming off Saratoga maiden wins: Argyle Pink, Miss Ocean City, Heavenly Vision,

Obsequious, Persistently and Vegas Wedding. Doremifasolatido was a distant second to Mani Bhavan in the Grade II Adirondack.

Two-year-olds will also be

feaured at Arlington Park, where 14 will go to the gate in the Grade III $200,000 Arlington-Washington Breeders’ Cup Futurity. Capt. Candyman Can, a recent first-out winner at Saratoga, is the 5-2

program favorite.

Curlin’s regular rider, Robby Albarado, will be aboard favored Silverfoot in the Grade III $200,000 Kentucky Cup Turf today at Kentucky Downs, a 11⁄2-mile grass marathon. Silverfoot won the race in 2005.

Graded-stakes winners Miss Macy Sue and Wild Gams will hook up with multiple Grade I winner Dream Rush in the $400,000

Presque Isle Downs Masters today for female sprinters 3 and up.

AROUND THE TRACKS

u Bustin Stones, the undefeated Grade I winner bred and owned by Troy native Roddy Valente, will stand stud at Dr. Jerry Bilinski’s Waldorf Farm, starting in 2009 for a fee of $6,500. Unraced since winning the Carter Handicap in April, Bustin Stones is being pointed to the Sept. 27 Vosburgh at Belmont as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

u Multiple Grade I winning millionaire Showing Up has been retired, and will stand at Adena Springs South in Florida in 2009 for a $7,500 fee.

u Colonel John will train up to the BC Classic following his thrilling nose victory over Mambo in Seattle in the $1 million Travers at Saratoga. He was being considered for the Super Derby in Louisiana Sept. 20 and the Goodwood at Santa Anita Sept. 27 .

u Horse owner and advocate John Hettinger died Sept. 6 following a lengthy illness at the age of 74. Hettinger was the first client to support a young up-and-coming trainer named Nick Zito, and presented Zito’s Hall of Fame plaque when he was inducted in 2005.