Suffolk attempts to lure Big Brown
Principal owner Richard Fields announced yesterday that Suffolk Downs will raise the purse for this year's Massachusetts Handicap to $5 million if Big Brown and 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Curlin remain unbeaten this summer and start in the race. The hike includes a $1 million participation bonus for each horse.
The MassCap, set for Sept. 20, carries a purse of $500,000, but Fields said the additional money will be funded by Fields's Coastal Development, LLC, Suffolk's largest shareholder.
"Big Brown and Curlin are regarded as the two best thoroughbreds in the world and racing fans would like nothing more than to see them go head to head," said Fields in a statement. "If they are to square off, we feel the $5 million purse is a great incentive and what better place than at Suffolk Downs in the city of Boston, the sports capital of the world."
Fields said the purse will drop to $3 million if Big Brown wins the Triple Crown, and either horse has a loss.
A Curlin-Big Brown matchup is on the wish list of many people, including Big Brown's co-owner, Michael Iavarone. "Not that I'm particularly anxious to face him," he said. "[Curlin's] a great horse. But it would be great to find out how they stack up."'
If Big Brown wins the Triple Crown, his options will be enormous. He could go to stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky, which paid more than $50 million last month to get him, or he could finish his career at the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 23 and at the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita in October.
"We've learned in this business that anything is possible" said Chip Tuttle, Suffolk's chief operating officer. "Who knows, maybe Big Brown will run in the Belmont and pass the Travers and then come to the MassCap. It was something that Richard wanted to explore and we're doing it."
