Well, after all that talk by Dutrow there won’t be a Big Brown/Curlin show down after all… Big Brown was retired today after grabbing himself during a workout.
bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ … out-injury
Sounds like it’s something he could have come back from, but since they were planning on the Classic being his last race anyway, guess it makes sense. At least Casino Drive has a chance to make the race interesting, Curlin can try and get revenge against Rags to Riches half-brother.
Has got to be one of the most disappointing news of the year (for me and for now; who knows what November will bring). I was looking forward to taking pictures of him, too.
Pulling for Colonel John and Casino Drive.
The undefeated Arc winner Zarkava (a filly!) was also retired today. Another good three year old out of the BC and retired way to soon.
I was really looking forward to Curlin running Big Brown into the ground too!
Ditto! 
Big Brown has had quite a few problems with his feet, and it’s likely he’ll pass that on to his offspring…doesn’t quite fit the whole breeding for soundness scheme that people have been clamoring for. But then of course he’s a Classic winner, so people are going to breed to him anyway…it’s not like you can ask them not to with his accomplishments. Besides, he’s just one of many pieces in the industry’s puzzle.
He’s a Derby winner, not a Classic winner. 
But I totally agree on the feet, and that’s why I can’t like him. He’s bound to throw babies who can’t run and have crappy feet, and that will just suck for those poor babies.
The crappy feet don’t really worry me, anyone who’s worked on the backside knows that a lot of foot problems are created from CONSTANTLY washing the horses feet over and over again, even a horse with good feet is affected by it. I think if Big Brown had simply been given time for his feet to grow out they would be just fine but he’s been running on fake feet since he was a 2yo so who knows, genetically his feet could be great, they were just compromised by many different factors.
That’s true, I suppose. So then I fall back on the fact that his trainer seems like a jerk, his owners couldn’t care less that he’s a living horse and not just some stock quote, and he showed his true colors in the Belmont and sucked. 
The crappy feet don’t really worry me, anyone who’s worked on the backside knows that a lot of foot problems are created from CONSTANTLY washing the horses feet over and over again, even a horse with good feet is affected by it.
I have to disagree w/ this statement. I ran horses for 5 yrs on the West Coast and the ONLY feet problem I had was due to shoer’s wanting to cut off the heels and leaving long toes. My horses were bathed daily, but I kept hoof oils, Kopertox and tried to find a good shoer. When my mares retired, guess what, their heels grew when I stopped using racehorse shoers.
Low heels and long toes put a lot of stress on the tendons and ligaments. This leads to bows, torn ligaments, ankle injuries and so on. I had to retire a mare courtesy of a shoer giving her all the wrong angles and she started to have suspensory problems. Granted, a few months rest and she could have comeback, but she was my favorite, so she became a momma. But it was all because of a shoer.
TB’s by nature have bad feet. A lot of it is due to the trainers having new shoes put on monthly and the hooves don’t have a chance to grow and heal. Most don’t feed supplements to help hoof growth, let alone treat the hooves w/ oils and such.
There is an old saying " No hoof, No horse". doesn’t matter the breed.
If attention is paid to the feet then yes, there will be no problems, but most trainers I know never use supplements or treat the hooves so problems are created.
Granted with Big Brown neglect of proper care for the feet is most likely not the case, I think it’s just wear and tear and never giving the hoof a chance to grow back.
I’ve heard that Boundary also had bad feet, so I’m wondering if it’s genetic, just Big Brown and his unfortunate circumstances, or a rather nasty combination of both. If it’s genetic, then I’m really worried about his contribution to the gene pool.