Photo of Big Brown before racing in Saturday's Belmont Stakes by Tien Mao
Saturday's Belmont Stakes wasn't the swan song for Big Brown. The three-year-old horse will reportedly race again. While they are still searching for an injury to explain the horse's last-place finish in the Belmont, his owners, IEAH, have decided to enter him in the Travers Stakes in Saratoga Springs on August 23rd. The Travers usually attracts the top three-year olds in racing and perhaps it will give us the much-anticipated Big Brown-Casino Drive matchup that was scheduled for last Saturday, but scratched when Casino Drive stepped on a stone.
But that is not all that Big Brown’s owners have been up to. They are putting together a group of “high risk” investors willing to pony up (sorry) $500,000 each in a $100 million horse investment fund. Part of the funds proceeds will be used to construct the “Ruffian Equine Medical Center” in Elmont, right near Belmont Park. The town’s Industrial Development Agency is considering tax breaks for this venture that according to the Nassau County Tax Assessor, would mean a savings of at least $1 million for the group.
Why any municipal government would extend tax breaks in this economy to multi-millionaires who invest in horses is hard to understand. But then again, considering that most of the group are Wall Street tycoons, maybe they need the help right now.
