Big Brown Merchandise - hats, tickets, programs

At the bottom and the side of this page are items or merchandise for Big Brown. I have had trouble finding them so I posted links, and ebay feeds for his merchandise. Scroll down to the bottom.

Big Brown Sponsors Big Brown

United Parcel Service (UPS) reaped millions of dollars worth of publicity by sponsoring Big Brown in his quest for horse racing’s first Triple Crown in 30 years. The association between the horse and the delivery firm nicknamed Big Brown started with a grateful UPS contractor and is built around a small logo that Jockey Kent Desormeaux wears on his riding pants.

Racing fans get a quick view of that UPS patch every time Desormeaux guides Big Brown across the finish line. He also dons a UPS cap when he poses for photographers in racing’s most prestigious winner’s circles.

Vice President Eric Wright of Joyce Julius & Associates (JJ&A) told Ad Age Magazine that UPS received at least $4 million in network, newspaper, magazine and online publicity when Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. JJ&A, which specializes in measuring the value of sponsorships, estimated the value of the publicity would at least double if Big Brown wins the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown in New York.

Big Brown - Competition (I always bet on a gray horse)

ockey Garrett Gomez will replace Julien Leparoux as the rider for Preakness Stakes (G1) runner-up Macho Again in the $1-million Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7.

Leparoux has ridden Macho Again in four of the Macho Uno colt’s five starts this year, including a runner-up finish to Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Big Brown in the Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course.

Big Brown will attempt to become the 12th Triple Crown winner in the Belmont, a 1 1/2-mile race for three-year-olds that is also expected to include unbeaten Peter Pan Stakes (G2) winner Casino Drive.

Leparoux rode West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again to a win in the Derby Trial Stakes on April 26 at Churchill Downs prior to finishing second in the Preakness. Trainer Dallas Stewart said the decision by West Point to switch jockeys should not reflect negatively on Leparoux, who is currently based at Churchill Downs.

Gomez moved his tack to New York after beginning the year riding in California.

“Julien has done a good job with him,” Stewart said. “But after talking with [West Point President] Terry Finley and the owners, it was a decision based more on a home-court advantage for the rider. Gomez is a New York rider, and he knows that mile-and-a-half track. That’s not taking anything away from Julien or anything, but Gomez rides there every day and he’s going to ride a bunch on the card.

“We’re going up there trying to win it, not that we think we couldn’t win it with Julien. Terry just felt that it would give us a little bit of an edge to have someone that rides there every day.”

Gomez did not have a mount for the Preakness. He leads all North American riders with $7,426,776 in purse earnings through Friday.

Big Brown Belmont Stakes 2008

Even should he win the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown, Big Brown will remain an enigma. He might be one of the greatest horses ever or he might be just a good horse who has been beating up on a terrible crop of 3-year-olds. With his limited body of work, no one can really answer that question. At least for now, though, I'm leaning toward the latter description.

I won't bestow greatness on Big Brown until he runs fast. How can you?

Big Brown's performances have been nothing short of brilliant. In the highest-level races, he toys with his opponents. But as visually impressive as his wins have been, they are not particularly fast races. Based on his Beyer figures, the sport's most widely accepted measurement of speed and ability, Big Brown is far from exceptional when compared to recent winners of Triple Crown races.

He ran a 109 in the Kentucky Derby, precisely the average winning number since 1992 and well below the numbers turned in by the likes of War Emblem (114), Monarchos (116) and Silver Charm (115). His Preakness number was a 100, the slowest winning Beyer number in that race since Prairie Bayou ran a 98 in 1993.

The Daily Racing Form's Steve Crist researched the Beyer numbers of the last six horses to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown and found that the combined Derby-Preakness Beyer numbers for all six are better than Big Brown's.

Coming into the Belmont, he doesn't even have the best last race figure. That belongs to Casino Drive, who ran a 101 when winning the Peter Pan.

And he's certainly not the fastest horse in training. That title belongs to Curlin, who ran a 119 when he won the Breeders' Cup Classic last year. Now 4, and, presumably bigger, stronger and faster than he was last year, Curlin should climb into the 125 neighborhood before this year is over. Based strictly on the numbers, Curlin would trounce Big Brown right now.

Of course, there's every chance that Big Brown could run faster, maybe even considerably faster, than he has been. His wins are so effortless that he gives the impression that he's not running near full speed and would have an extra gear or two should anyone ever challenge him. Maybe Casino Drive will push him in the Belmont, something no one else among the potential starters seems capable of doing.

Then again, maybe the Belmont will be more of the same for Big Brown, another facile win in which he runs a mediocre time. If that turns out to be the case, even with a Triple Crown sweep under his belt, he will have a big hole on his resume. To retire him at that point is to risk having Big Brown go down in history as the Triple Crown winner who left the game with something to prove. That's never happened before.

The hope is that IEAH Stables and Rick Dutrow will be true to their word and run Big Brown after the Belmont. That may not make the most economic sense, but it could be their only chance to prove just how great their horse is. Let him win the Travers in a fast time and beat Curlin in the Breeders' Cup. Then, Big Brown can go down in history as one of the best ever.

Big Brown Triple Crown

Big Brown demolished 11 rivals Saturday afternoon at Pimlico in the 133rd Preakness and now will return to New York in hopes of becoming Thoroughbred racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner when he goes to post in the 140th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y.

Owned by IEAH Stable and Paul Pompa Jr., the Boundary colt will hope to be the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 when he goes in the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion” that is the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown.”
Not only is this the 30th anniversary of Affirmed’s Triple Crown, but the 60th of Citation’s Triple Crown in 1948.

Although Big Brown easily won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the Belmont Stakes looms ahead and it has thwarted 18 others who sought the Triple Crown. Those were:

1944 – Pensive
1958 – Tim Tam
1961 – Carry Back
1964 – Northern Dancer
1966 – Kauai King
1968 – Forward Pass
1969 – Majestic Prince
1971 – Canonero II
1979 – Spectacular Bid
1981 – Pleasant Colony
1987 – Alysheba
1989 – Sunday Silence
1997 – Silver Charm
1998 – Real Quiet
1999 – Charismatic
2002 – War Emblem
2003 – Funny Cide
2004 – Smarty Jones

RACING’S TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS:
Sir Barton, 1919
Assault, 1946
Gallant Fox, 1930
Omaha, 1935
Citation, 1948
Secretariat, 1973
War Admiral, 1937
Seattle Slew, 1977
Whirlaway, 1941
Affirmed, 1978
Count Fleet, 1943

2008 Belmont Stakes

Big Brown won the 2008 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, winning in great fashion at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

Big Brown defeated runner-up Macho Again by 5¼ lengths at the 133rd Preakness Stakes. His final time was 1:54.80 for 1 3/16 miles on a fast track.

Big Brown earned $600,000 for the win and increased his earnings to $2,714,500 for Iavarone and Schiavo, co-owners of IEAH Stables, and Paul Pompa Jr.

Big Brown is one step closer to becoming thoroughbred racing's 12th Triple Crown winner. The last horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes was Affirmed in 1978.

Big Brown became the first horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Smarty Jones in 2004.

Smarty Jones won the 2004 Preakness by 11½ lengths, one year after Funny Cide was a 10½-length winner. Both were overtaken by late surges of the Belmont, at 1½ miles the longest of the three Triple Crown races.

The Belmont Stakes will take place on June 7 in Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.