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Big Brown has steadily improved while breezing in the mornings at Aqueduct. On Sunday, the son of Boundary went five furlongs in 59 1/5 - his fourth work since June 9 when he finished ninth and last in the Belmont.
Clockers timed Big Brown in 1:12 2/5 for six furlongs as he galloped out. Co-owner Michael Iavarone said the colt worked with True Dancer, “a nice older horse,” according to BloodHorse.com. “He worked awesome. Michelle (Nevin) broke him a length behind True Dancer. She said she drafted him in behind him True Dancer and he sat there nice and quiet.
“When she took him to the outside at the three-eighths pole he absolutely blew by the other horse (by five lengths), and she couldn’t even pull him up after the work. We’re over the moon. He’s right on course and hasn’t missed a beat. The 3rd can’t come soon enough.”
Other 3-year-olds being seriously considered for the Aug. 3 Haskell include:
Cool Coal Man, 15th in the Kentucky Derby, who captured the Spend a Buck Stakes on June 14 at Monmouth. Paul Grimm, editor of the online Oceanport Racing Report (http://oceanportracingreport.com), has some encouraging words to say about him.
Pyro, eighth in the Run for the Roses, who won the Northern Dancer on June 14 at Churchill Downs. He’s prepping for the Haskell in Sunday’s Jim Dandy at Saratoga, which attracted Belmont winner Da’ Tara, prepping for the Travers Stakes.
Tale of Ekati, fourth at Churchill Downs and sixth in the Belmont, and Anak Nakal, seventh in the Derby and dead-heated for third in the Belmont.
In addition, the 1-2 finishers in Monmouth’s Long Branch on July 12 are likely to run: Truth Rules and Atoned.
Other possible runners include Macho Again, runner-up in the Preakness and fifth in the Belmont, and Nistle’s Crunch, second in the Colonial Turf Cup.
One reason why Big Brown is headed to Monmouth instead of Saratoga for the Travers was given last month by Iavarone, who told The Star-Ledger in New Jersey: “We’re trying to avoid the heat; it’s a lot more hot and humid (at Saratoga), it’s a lot cooler down by the Jersey Shore.”
Grimm begs to differ: “The Jersey Shore in August will be just as stifling as it would be in Saratoga so I don’t see any advantage there.”
He points out the Haskell “is not a walkover for Derby winners. This race is probably the hardest of the season for horses that ran deep into the Derby trail. Horses like Curlin (third last year), Hard Spun (runner-up last year) and Derby winners Funny Cide (third in ‘03) and Spend a Buck (second in ‘85) were given bigger tests than they had anticipated going into this race.”
Grimm believes the most intriguing challengers to Big Brown “could come from Nick Zito’s barn. Cool Coal Man ran a very good race in the Spend a Buck here. I really think Cool Coal Man showed some improvement and at this point he is the horse I think could have a real shot at winning the race.”
Zito also trains Truth Rules. “He has won three times over the Monmouth strip,” Grimm said. “Don’t be surprised if the winner comes from the Zito barn, which is having a nice meet at the Jersey Shore.”
Through Sunday, the trainer saddled eight winners in 21 starts — 38 percent.
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