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Big Brown receives final tune-up for grass return Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner BIG BROWN (Boundary) registered his final workout on Tuesday morning for Saturday's Monmouth S. when breezing five furlongs in 1:05 1/5 over the good turf course at Aqueduct. Winner of the Haskell Invitational S. (G1) on August 3, the Richard Dutrow-trained colt will return to the turf for Saturday's 1 1/8-mile affair at Monmouth Park. "He went beautifully," Dutrow said. "Everything is set for him right now. I’m excited to watch him run Saturday." The Monmouth S. will be Big Brown's last start before the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita on October 25. Asked if a huge performance on the turf could lead to a start in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1), Dutrow said, "There's no chance we'll enter for Breeders' Cup Turf and Classic, just the Classic. It's where we want to run." Big Brown sports a perfect one-for-one record on the turf, having broken his maiden at first asking by 11 1/4 lengths on Saratoga's turf last September. Following that score, a majority interest was sold to IEAH Stables, and the bay colt headed to the sidelines for the rest of his juvenile season. Big Brown returned to the races this year with a victory in an entry-level allowance at Gulfstream Park. In his next start, he made a smashing stakes debut in the Florida Derby (G1), winning by five lengths, and then came the Triple Crown. Big Brown rolled to an impressive 4 3/4-length score under the Twin Spires in the Kentucky Derby and carried his form to Pimlico, taking the Preakness by 4 3/4 lengths. In the Belmont S. (G1), the Kentucky-bred suffered his first setback, but he rebounded from being pulled up in that event by scoring in the Haskell Invitational, Monmouth Park's signature race. As part of the condition of the Monmouth S., the purse will be $500,000 with Big Brown in the field. Otherwise it will be run for a purse of $200,000. Ready to take on Big Brown in the Monmouth S. is stakes winner and Grade 1-placed KISS THE KID (Kingmambo), who exits a third in the Philip H. Iselin S. (G3) on the main track and finished second in the grassy Bob Harding S. two starts back at Monmouth Park. "When we saw this opportunity we decided to jump on it," trainer Amy Tarrant. "I think my horse always shows up for a race. He's a bulldog. He's as fit as he could possibly be." As for the potential of pulling off an upset in the Monmouth Stakes, "Big Brown is a champion," Tarrant said, "so running against him is fun, and if we pulled off the upset I wouldn't be sad at all because Big Brown is already a champion. I figure life is short and I've got some nice horses and paid a lot of money for them so I figure why not -- I'm stabled here and we don't have to ship. And if he pulls off the upset -- that's great." Other probables for the Monmouth S. include the multiple Grade 2-winning millionaire SILVER TREE (Hennessy), who exits a score in the Oceanport S. (G3) over the course; Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial H. (G2) hero PROUDINSKY (Ger) (Silvano [Ger]), a close sixth in the Bernard Baruch H. (G2); and multiple Grade 3 winner HOTSTUFANTHENSOME (Awesome Again), who just missed to Silver Tree two back. RED ROCKS (Ire) (Galileo [Ire]), the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf winner who defeated Curlin (Smart Strike) in the Man o' War S. (G1) last time out, is also possible.
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