The UPS Hopeful

Big Brown winning The Kentucky Derby

In 1978, a chestnut horse named Affirmed won The Triple Crown. Thirty years later, a bay stallion attempts to win The Triple Crown. His name is Big Brown. Big brown was named after the mail service, UPS. It was only naturally that UPS would be sponsoring Big Brown for his bid to the Triple Crown. Big Brown had never lost a race in his career. He had only raced 4 times before he was entered in The Kentucky Derby. Many people doubted him because he wasn't as experienced as the horses were. Another concern that people had was whether or not his post position (position where a horse is placed inside the starting gate) would affect him. Big Brown was in position 20. He was the farthest horse from the rail. Generally in races you want the position nearest the rail, but in The Derby it may not be the best position to start in, yet anything can happen in a horse race. 

On Derby Day, the crowd was buzzing with anticipation. Who would be the next Derby winner? Some of Big Brown's biggest rivals were Eight Belles (the only filly (female) horse in the race) and Colonel John. When all the horses were loaded in the starting gate, there was a hush of silence then the starting gates burst open. Out come 20 horses charging down the stretch in front of the grandstand. Big Brown sits tight in 4th place; waiting for the perfect time for him to make his move. When it came down to the final stretch, Big Brown made his move and bursted like a rocket into 1st place. Big Brown won The Kentucky Derby by 5 and 1/2 lengths. The next race his owner and trainer aimed him at was The Preakness Stakes. On Preakness day, everyone was expecting Big Brown to dominate the field in the stretch for home like he did in the Derby. Big Brown did not disappoint his fans. He won the Preakness by 5 lengths. No one even came close to him. Everyone had complete faith in him that he could very well be the next Triple Crown winner. He had The Belmont Stakes to knock down and then he'd make history. As fate would have it, Big Brown would lose The Belmont. He would come in last place. Days prior to the Belmont, Big Brown developed a crack in his hoof which was repaired and ready to go. Many people thought that this could have been a result of his hoof hurting. We'll never know why he lost, all we know now is that next year is another year for a Triple Crown hopeful.