Big Brown
Big Brown is the racehorse who won the first two legs of racing's Triple Crown in 2008. He won the Kentucky Derby by 4 3/4 lengths on 3 May 2008. His performance there was so powerful that he was a 1-5 favorite at the Preakness on 17 May 2008, which he won by 5 1/4 lengths. Big Brown has never been beaten, though he raced only three times before the Derby: he won his maiden race at Saratoga on 3 September 2007, then won twice in two races at Gulfstream Park in Florida in March of 2008. By winning the Belmont Stakes on 7 June 2008, he could become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown. His co-owners, IEAH Stables, announced before the Preakness that Big Brown would not race as a four-year-old and instead would be put to stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky.
Extra credit: The name Big Brown comes from the nickname of the United Parcel Service; the shipping company was a client of one of the horse's owners, Paul Pompa, Jr... The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. Seattle Slew (1977) and Secretariat (1973) also won the prize in the 1970s, but there were no Triple Crown winners in the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s or 1990s... Two other horses, Funny Cide (in 2003) and Smarty Jones (in 2004). Smarty Jones also is at stud at Three Chimneys Farm... Big Brown is the son of the sire Boundary and the dam Mien.
Blog posts mentioning Big Brown:
Here Comes Big Brown