Iavarone, Dutrow: Crossed wires again

Controversy is never far away from the Big Brown camp, and it loomed again Saturday in two television interviews that aired on ESPN. IEAH Stables' co-president Michael Iavarone told ESPN's Jeannine Edwards that last month he called trainer Rick Dutrow to tell him he was taking IEAH's horses out of his barn. "I said, 'Rick, I need to come get the horses,' " Iavarone said. Later Saturday, Edwards caught up to Dutrow in Saratoga's paddock before the Whitney Handicap, where Dutrow denied that Iavarone had threatened to remove IEAH's horses from his stable.

Iavarone said "the main investor in our company [James Tagliaferri]" talked him out of it. "It was a done deal," Iavarone said. "But [Tagliaferri] stopped me. He said, 'Take a step back, count to 100, and think of what Rick has done for you and for us."

Winning the Derby and Preakness with an undefeated colt, plus training horses that produced most of IEAH's nation-leading $7.3 million in earnings this year, are pretty impressive achievements, and they were enough to get Dutrow a reprieve. Since being put on "a short leash," in Iavarone's words, Dutrow has won graded stakes with Frost Giant, Kip Deville and Benny the Bull for IEAH.

This latest "he said, he said" controversy came on what should have been a happy day for the embattled crew, because Saturday morning Big Brown worked 6 furlongs in a sharp 1:10.96 at Aqueduct. Dutrow said the colt is "training exceptionally well" for his comeback race, the Grade I Haskell Invitational Sunday at Monmouth Park.

Iavarone had every right to be furious with Dutrow last month. Two days after IEAH announced its horses would run drug-free except for Lasix starting Oct. 1, Kentucky stewards announced that Dutrow faced a 15-day suspension for a clenbuterol overage. "I spoke to him the week before we made the announcement," Iavarone told Edwards, "and he had known since mid-May about the clenbuterol positive."

Dutrow never told Iavarone, who was angry and embarrassed when he learned about the violation through the media. "It undermined what I was trying to put forth," Iavarone said.

In Saturday's ESPN interviews, Iavarone characterized his relationship with Dutrow as "strained." Dutrow disagreed, saying he "didn't know it was strained" and that he thought their problems had been "smoothed over."

Apparently not, and now the flashpoint shifts to the Jersey Shore, where Big Brown will try to redeem himself after his last-place meltdown in the Belmont, where Kent Desormeaux pulled him up at the top of the stretch. "I can't wait for the Haskell," Desormeaux has said. Neither can Dutrow, who said, "I can't wait to get him in the gate again.''

Iavarone also said he expects a 180-degree reversal from a Triple Crown finale he called "a horror show. It was the worst nightmare come true." But in Monday's editions of the New York Times, Iavarone said another failure "could very well be the end of Big Brown's career."

All or nothing at all has been the pattern for Big Brown, who looked like a superstar at Churchill Downs and Pimlico and a crippled giant at Belmont Park. Will it all end Sunday, or will he raise hopes for a triumphant autumn campaign? Whatever you say about the Alpha male of his generation and his connections, they're never boring.

Dutrow is scheduled to be among four horsemen speaking Tuesday on a national teleconference, so more fun could be in store.

All wet at the Spa

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- When people hear I'm going to Saratoga to cover racing, they think I'm one of the luckiest people in America. "You get paid to do that?" Yes, it's a pleasant assignment, but like anything else, it becomes a drill, and the life of a journalist on the road is hardly glamorous. I love the destination but the long drive from Long Island is boring, and travel can be most aggravating at times.

Such as what happened to me Saturday evening, after a downpour complete with sky-splitting lightning (horizontal, vertical and diagonal) delayed my exit from the press box for an hour. I had parked near the training track, perhaps a quarter-mile from the grandstand, and former Newsday colleague John Pricci gave me a ride.

When I saw my car sitting in about 4 inches of freshly fallen water, I became concerned. Were the brakes wet? Was the engine damaged? I took off my shoes and socks, put them on the hood of John's car, and rolled my pants up above my knees. Something was floating near the door on the driver's side, and I'd bet it had been alive an hour before. I couldn't guess its species, but it might have been the rare land jellyfish thought to have been extinct for centuries in the foothills of the Adirondacks.

So I looked like Jed Clampett as I got into the car, which thankfully started. Then I drove to meet a fellow writer at a barbecue place, answering a call from my son on Long Island on the way. So I was driving barefoot and talking on a cell phone (two crimes) as I drove past the barbecue joint, which was dark and closed because of a power outage. When my pal Bob showed up, he saw me standing outside my car, my feet still bare and my pants still rolled up above my knees. He said he expected to hear the banjo from the movie "Deliverance" at any moment.

Saratoga's Saturday stakes, part 4: the Whitney Handicap

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Unlike the preceding race, the Go for Wand, the Grade I, $750,000 Whitney is very complicated.

Can Saratoga-loving speedster Commentator turn back the clock at age 7 and repeat his Whitney win of 2005? There are horses for courses, unquestionably, but he's not the horse he was then, and I'm going to play Rising Moon. Trainer Rick Dutrow said the versatile 5-year-old had a lung infection when he ran third June 28 in the Suburban Handicap won by his stablemate First Giant. Rising Moon can stalk and fire, and turning back from 1 1/4 miles to 1 1/8 should amplify his stretch punch.

The play: Rising Moon, win and place, and box him in exactas with Solar Flare and A.P. Arrow, the beaten favorite in the Suburban who's 2-for-3 at the Spa.

Saturday's Saratoga stakes, part 3: Go for Wand Handicap

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- I can't get past the Bobby Frankel entry of Ginger Punch and Spring Waltz, who could easily finish 1-2. Can't bet on them or against them, so if you're playing the Pick 4, it seems like a no-brainer single. Of course, some thought that about Big Brown on Belmont day.

Saturday's Saratoga stakes, part 2: the Vanderbilt

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- There's a ton of speed in here, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's Abraaj could sit off a hot pace contested by First Defence, Black Seventeen, Bustin Stones and E Z Warrior. Abraaj worked a bullet 4 furlongs July 19 at Saratoga and could be sitting on a big race. He signaled his improvement on Belmont Stakes day, when he closed strongly for third, missing by only a half-length against the nation's leading sprinter, Benny the Bull.

The play: Bet Abraaj to win and box him in exactas with First Defence and Bustin Stones.

Saturday's Saratoga stakes, part I: The Diana

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Saratoga is offering a $500,000-guaranteed all-stakes Pick 4 Saturday, and I'll give you my semi-educated guesses while awaiting Friday's 2:45 p.m. "Sunset Racing" first post. I haven't decided whether I'll play the Pick 4 or just a few of the races, but here goes with the opener.

7th race, Grade I Diana Stakes, 1 1/8 miles (turf, fillies and mares 3 and up)

This is an extremely tricky race, and I landed on the rail horse, longshot Bit Of Whimsy, who has won a Grade I at the distance, has won over a course with give in it and is working well for Barclay Tagg. She's also a generous 12-1 on the morning line, which looks like excellent value.

Bit of Whimsy had better be on her 'A' game, though, because there are plenty of tough ladies in here, led by Vacare, Wait A While and Rutherienne. However, Wait A While dislikes turf that isn't firm; Vacare seems better suited for a mile and hasn't won at 9 furlongs in almost two years; and Rutherienne disliked a swampy course last time out at Colonial Downs. I'd be willing to throw that race out, though, and Rutherienne won a stakes last year at the Spa.

The play: Bet win and place on Bit Of Whimsy and key her in exacta boxes with Rutherienne, soft-ground lover Lady Digby and Dynaforce, who just missed last race against the very tough Mauralakana.

Apply Mousse liberally

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Friday's Saratoga feature, the Grade II Lake George Stakes on the grass for 3-year-old fillies, offers an excellent French shipper, Mousse Au Chocolat. She's 6-for-7 lifetime in the exacta, with her worst race a 3-length defeat (she ran fourth) to the star French filly Zarkava in a Grade III at Longchamp in April. Mouuse au Chocolat was coming off a five-month layoff there, so she probably wasn't fully cranked, and the undefeated Zarkava is one of the early favorites for Europe's biggest race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Mousse au Chocolat brings along her regular rider, the gifted Christophe Lemaire, and has won three times on soft ground, which is how the Spa's inner turf has been rated. Unfortunately, she's only 2-1 in the morning line, and I fear she'll be bet down because only one opponent, the Bill Mott-trained Zee Zee, looks capable of beating her. Zee Zee went wire to wire on a drenched Churchill Downs course on Kentucky Oaks day, and if she gets loose under Kent Desormeaux, she could be hard to catch.

The play: $25 to win on Mousse au Chocolat, with a $7 exacta of her on top of Zee Zee, and a $3 exacta reversing the two.

Kent 0-for-2

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Kent Desormeaux finished fourth on his second and final mount of the day, Freakstein in the eighth race, and remained at 4,999 winners.

Kent's still at 4,999

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Kent Desormeaux remained one win shy of 5,000 after his mount in Thursday's sixth race, Karakorum Playmate, faded badly in midstretch after dueling on the lead from the start. Desormeaux didn't ride the first five races and has only one more chance today, on Freakstein in the eighth race, scheduled for 4:57 p.m.

Top of the world

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- I've ripped up mutuel tickets at 77 tracks all over the globe and have yet to find a better place to watch a race than the roof of the press box at Saratoga. The main track is small enough (a mile circumference) that if your horse has colors that stand out, you don't even need binoculars.

The fifth race Thursday was satisfying to me from an artistic and financial perspective. I stood high above it all as I watched my suggested play of the day (see yesterday's blog if you think I'm making it up) go wire to wire and pay $6.10. Thank you, Mine All Mine, for making the afternoon feel like it was all me. Too bad I didn't bet more than $20 on the maiden filly trained by 2-year-old demon Wesley Ward. Even when you win, you can get aggravated.