Big Brown Expected in Horse Betting at Monmouth

Big Brown will make his next horse betting start at Monmouth Park in the Monmouth Stakes on Saturday, September 13th. The purse for the race will increase from $100,000 to a cool half million as long as Big Brown starts the race.

“We were looking for a grass race for him, and the Monmouth grass surface should be perfect for Big Brown,” co-owner Michael Iavarone said, “Monmouth was cordial enough to put up a nice purse for him and the fans really took to Big Brown last time he was there. We’ll use this race to go to the synthetic surface at Santa Anita and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.” Iavarone added. Those are likely the final two races in Big Brown’s career as he is expected to be retired after the Classic.

This will be the second straight horse betting start for Big Brown at Monmouth. He won the $1 Million dollar Haskell in front of 45,132 fans. “We had a huge day on Haskell Day, and he was the main reason for it,” Monmouth General Manager Bob Kulina said. “This will make September exciting for us; it will make September something to look forward to.”

The race on the turf is expected to prepare Big Brown for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in late October at Santa Anita on a synthetic surface. The problem for Monmouth Park horse betting may be finding horses to run against Big Brown but Kulina doesn’t believe it will be a problem. “With such a big purse you’d like to think we have a shot of getting some other pretty good horses,” Kulina said. “The second-place finisher will get $100,000, and that’s a lot of money.”

The race might be difficult to promote at Monmouth considering most horse racing betting occurs from Memorial Day to Labor Day at Monmouth Park. Many fans don’t attend for the final couple of weeks. Monmouth is already preparing to attract fans to the race. They are giving away a long-sleeve Big Brown T-shirt that commemorates his win in the Haskell. They are also keeping grandstand reserve seats at $2 instead of the $10 to $15 for Haskell Day.

"We've never had this type of horse, and the surrounding publicity, in September," Monmouth assistant general manager Bill Knauf said. "We're preparing for 15,000. Hopefully, it's more." Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow said that the horse was doing well after the Haskell. He breezed four furlongs at Aqueduct last Friday in 50.40 seconds. "He went good," said Dutrow. "I'm happy with what he's doing. I called this morning seeking permission for him to work on the grass and they said no. I'd prefer to keep him on grass every day if I could, to gallop and work. He's all done with dirt racing, and in my opinion he's a better grass horse anyway."