Secretariat's biographer Bill Nack gave a speech in April about the racing legend.
It's worth taking a look:
YouTube link
Showing posts with label Bill Nack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Nack. Show all posts
Belmont Stakes.
Bill Nack interviewed Billy Turner, trainer of Seattle Slew and the last surviving trainer of a Triple Crown winner, about last Saturday's disastrous Belmont Stakes, at least a disaster for Big Brown and his connections.
Turner was pissed about Big Brown's connections running the horse in the first place when he was not "structurally sound." As I said a million times before, the great Buckpasser, the favorite for the 1966 classics, had to skip them entirely because of a quarter crack.
And Turner was pissed off royal at Kent Desormeaux, who already received a lot of criticism over Real Quiet's narrow loss in the 1998 Belmont Stakes. I love the fact Turner compared his ride with the infamous No Mas! boxing incident when Roberto Duran, apparently suffering from gas pains from eating too much steak beforehand (or didn't), abruptly quit his fight with Sugar Ray Leonard back in 1980.
What made this worse was all kinds of gossip abounded about the race being rigged, that Desormeaux threw the race. Of course it didn't happen. Questions could be raised as to whether Dutrow ordered Desormeaux to ease the horse if it looked as if he couldn't win the race. In any case, if Big Brown continues racing, it is very likely Desormeaux will never ride him again.
Turner saves his harshest remarks for trainer Rick Dutrow. Turner studied previous Belmont races and how winning trainers prepared their horses. Turner knows what he is talking about. In his opinion, Dutrow didn't train Big Brown properly. It is clear the horse was and is very talented; notice the way he so easily won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness despite some criticisms of the quality of the field. It was the quarter crack that drove Dutrow to prepare Big Brown in a half-assed manner. With that injury and with that training, or lack of it, it would have been a miracle for Big Brown to have won Saturday's race.
Read the whole article. It is excellent.
Turner was pissed about Big Brown's connections running the horse in the first place when he was not "structurally sound." As I said a million times before, the great Buckpasser, the favorite for the 1966 classics, had to skip them entirely because of a quarter crack.
And Turner was pissed off royal at Kent Desormeaux, who already received a lot of criticism over Real Quiet's narrow loss in the 1998 Belmont Stakes. I love the fact Turner compared his ride with the infamous No Mas! boxing incident when Roberto Duran, apparently suffering from gas pains from eating too much steak beforehand (or didn't), abruptly quit his fight with Sugar Ray Leonard back in 1980.
“He was getting beat and he couldn’t stand it,” Turner said. “When I saw him pull up, I thought, ‘Oh, no! He’s broken down and the rider’s saving him.’ But then I saw him when he walked off and there was nothing wrong with the horse. The horse was happy. He would have beaten most of the horses in the Belmont…No wonder (trainer) Rick Dutrow had nothing to say after the race. What can you say? The stewards have got to do something to prevent this from becoming a regular practice. They can’t allow this kind of thing to go on.”
What made this worse was all kinds of gossip abounded about the race being rigged, that Desormeaux threw the race. Of course it didn't happen. Questions could be raised as to whether Dutrow ordered Desormeaux to ease the horse if it looked as if he couldn't win the race. In any case, if Big Brown continues racing, it is very likely Desormeaux will never ride him again.
Turner saves his harshest remarks for trainer Rick Dutrow. Turner studied previous Belmont races and how winning trainers prepared their horses. Turner knows what he is talking about. In his opinion, Dutrow didn't train Big Brown properly. It is clear the horse was and is very talented; notice the way he so easily won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness despite some criticisms of the quality of the field. It was the quarter crack that drove Dutrow to prepare Big Brown in a half-assed manner. With that injury and with that training, or lack of it, it would have been a miracle for Big Brown to have won Saturday's race.
Read the whole article. It is excellent.
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