Big Brown
It doesn’t get much better than Big Brown (Boundary x Mien by Nureyev) when it comes to race record. Purchased at the Keeneland April 2007 sale for $190k, he went on to win his debut on the weeds at Saratoga by 11 ¼ lengths. He wouldn’t race again until March when a stroke of luck saw his allowance race washed off the turf. He ran off to win over a fast track by 12 ¾ lengths.
It was after the allowance win that most of us suspected Big Brown could be a great horse. We knew he was a great horse when he took the Grade 1 Florida Derby (111 BRISnet figure) in his next start and the Kentucky Derby (110 BRISnet figure) after that. He romped home by 5 ¼ lengths in the Preakness Stakes and looked well on the way to winning the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.
Then the seemingly impossible happened. Big Brown, rank and incorrigible, finished a distanced dead last. This would be the first and only defeat of his eight race career.
Big Brown would race two more times. He won the Haskell Invitational (110 BRISnet figure) and the newly created $500k Monmouth Stakes (98 BRISnet figure) against older horses on the grass.
Big Brown is a son of Boundary who is a son of the great stallion Danzig. Boundary wasn’t particularly good or bad at stud, but did produce two top horses other than Big Brown in Grade 1 winners Minardi and Pomeroy.
His first dam, Mien, is a lightly raced and unaccomplished daughter of top stallion Nureyev. Despite fertility problems, Nureyev was able to produce nine champions, among them Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Theatrical.
The second dam, Miasma, won two races from 19 starts. She is by Group 1 winner Lear Fan.
Big Brown’s stud career began at Three Chimney’s Farm in 2009 with a fee of $65k. He was bred to over 100 mares with the majority of them being stakes caliber. The early auction results are very encouraging. He had 16 horses sell for at least $100k with the best going for $310k and a median of $67.5k.
The Kentucky Derby winner shuttled to Australia in 2010. Due to a much greater focus on turf racing, the horses he produced there might be more successful by comparison.
In 2012 Big Brown is standing for $35k at Three Chimneys. He will compete strongly to become the top freshman stallion of his class.
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