Big Brown, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, suffered an injury during a workout this morning at Aqueduct that knocks him out of a Breeders' Cup Classic and a possible showdown with Curlin, the all-time North American money winner. The injury will send Big Brown into retirement
The Big Brown injury is a torn bulb on his right front hoof. The bulb is soft tissue high on the back of the hoof and the injury can happen in mid-stride when a horse's front and back feet can actually clip each other. The injury takes two to three months to heal and the Breeders' Cup is just two weeks away. The injury is not life threatening but the most immediate concern is the threat of infection, according to Mike Iavarone, one of Big Brown's owners.
Iavarone called the injury "gut-wrenching" but said Big Brown can look forward to a happy life in retirment at Three Chimneys Farm. Big Brown won seven races in eight starts losing only the Belmont. After a hoof injury prior to the race, which was treated, Big Brown performed poorly in the Belmont as his jockey pulled him up. Since then, Big Brown won two more races.
Because Big Brown's trainer Rick Dutrow admitted that Big Brown had been administered steroids, the use of those drugs became a huge issue in horse racing and spurred restrictions in several jurisductions including Maryland.
