'Big Brown owner moves on from Triple Crown miss" MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP)—Michael Iavarone was standing in the winner’s circle, having just posed with a crystal decanter after one of his horses won at Calder Race Course to clinch a spot in this fall’s Breeders’ Cup. A bolt of lightning crackled not far off, just as the conversation turned to trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. Perfect symmetry? Perhaps.

Iavarone is the co-president of IEAH Stables, the owner of Big Brown. Dutrow, a lightning rod of a trainer if there ever was one, guided the horse to wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The connections were certain a Triple Crown was good as theirs. But Big Brown was eased up in the Belmont Stakes, and it seems as if everything involving Dutrow has been tinged in controversy since.
Dutrow wasn’t at Calder on Saturday to see Benny the Bull rally to win the Smile Sprint Handicap; he remained in New York with other horses. Benny the Bull did just fine anyway.
“I think he might enjoy not being around Rick,” Iavarone said. “I think a lot of us are enjoying that right now.”
He was kidding.
Well, maybe only half-kidding.
The Dutrow-related fallout since Big Brown’s disappointment in the Belmont— from how the once-troubled trainer gave the colt steroids (which were legal) to his penchant for disparaging the colt’s rivals—clearly took some of the shine off the Derby and Preakness victories for IEAH, straining the work relationship.
So a spring that brought so much buzz to horse racing—even after the death of Eight Belles following her runner-up finish at the Derby—now almost seems like an afterthought to Iavarone.
“I think a lot of things took away the bliss of the Triple Crown,” Iavarone said. “I think Eight Belles, I think Rick Dutrow, I think there’s a million things. I think Rick would be the first one to tell you that he would change some things if he could leading up to the Belmont. It’s unfortunate.”
Dutrow’s only communication with reporters after the Smile Sprint came in the form of quotes distributed by the Calder staff following his telephone interview with the track. He said three weeks ago he was growing tired of the “negativity” surrounding him and the Triple Crown quest and wants it all to just go away.
Iavarone has the same wish.
“Look, I don’t mind being the one to pay the price. It’s Big Brown that paid the ultimate price,” Iavarone said. “There were people that rooted against Big Brown due to the connections. That was the unfortunate side. But look, at the end of the day, they can’t take away the experience we had. The memories will last forever. It ended up disappointing, but for me to say I walk away disappointed winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, I’d be out of my mind.”
Now, Iavarone is looking ahead.
Big Brown has recovered from the cracked hoof during his Triple Crown season and is slated to run in the $1 million Haskell on Aug. 3 at Monmouth Park. According to the Iavarone’s plan, that would allow the colt to race once more before the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25.
That would mean Big Brown would miss the Travers at Saratoga. The Travers is 1 miles, one furlong longer than the Haskell.
“The Haskell is a race and a racetrack that I think is more suitable to him, a distance that I right now feel comfortable with and it also allows us, more importantly, to get another race in between the Breeders’ Cup,” Iavarone said. “I think the spacing from the Haskell to another race to the Breeders’ Cup is ideal. If you go to the Travers, I think the spacing becomes a little tight.”
Iavarone says his goal for the Haskell is simple. He wants “redemption” for Big Brown.
“He’s got to run his race in the Haskell,” Iavarone said. “If he doesn’t run his race in the Haskell, then we missed something.”
One thing Iavarone wants to miss: His trainer making headline-worthy proclamations in the days leading to the Haskell, and any other race.
“I’m going to be quiet as a mouse and I expect Rick to be quiet as a mouse,” Iavarone said. “We’ll let the horse do the talking.”