by Jeff Lowe

The focus leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) has been on Curlin’s uncertain participation, but dual classic winner Big Brown ended up being the key defector on Monday when he sustained a career-ending injury to his right front foot.

The Boundary colt grabbed a quarter while breezing on the Aqueduct turf in company with Kip Deville, last year’s NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner.

Michael Iavarone, co-president of majority owner IEAH Stables, said Big Brown came out of the workout with a three-inch chunk missing from the bulb of his foot.

The injury would require 60 to 90 days to heal, Iavarone said. IEAH and partners had already reached a deal in May for Big Brown to begin his stud career in 2009 at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Kentucky.

“I’m devastated today,” Iavarone said. “It was everything that an owner could have dreamed of, to have a match-up between [Big Brown and Curlin] and actually own one of them. I felt going into it that we didn’t have a lot to lose, we had a lot to gain. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get our horse there in the right way. Words can’t really put it in its right place.”

Big Brown has battled foot problems throughout his career, most famously with a quarter crack in the left front foot prior to his failed Triple Crown bid in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7. Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. insisted afterward that Big Brown’s Belmont performance had nothing to do with the foot problem.

Dutrow estimated last month that Big Brown had endured five quarter cracks since last September. He missed 45 days of training this winter, including the entire month of January, because of a quarter crack in the right front, the same foot he injured on Monday. Iavarone said Big Brown had been fine physically in his preparation for the Classic.

“He worked great, and when he came out of the work, I was smiling, I walked back across the track, and I saw Rick had this look on his face of devastation and I couldn’t believe it,” Iavarone said. “He told me that he thought we were in big trouble with Big Brown. … It caught me by surprise. We usually have to watch everything this horse does. He had been going so good for us over the last four weeks, that the last thing we were expecting was for him to have an injury.”

Big Brown was retired with the Belmont as his lone defeat in an eight-race career, highlighted by a 4 ¾-length victory in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and a 5 ¼-length score in the Preakness Stakes (G1). He also won the Florida Derby (G1) by five lengths, the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) in his first start since he was pulled up in the Belmont, and the Monmouth Stakes on September 13 in a turf prep for the Classic.

“Last night, my wife and I were up late and we were watching the replay of the Kentucky Derby and all the lead-up to it and it kind of brought a tear to my eye,” Iavarone said. “I turned to her and said, ‘Well, it’s not over yet. We still have one big one.’ The morning couldn’t have started any better, and it was like the weather changed.”

Jess Jackson, owner of Horse of the Year Curlin, lamented that the two horses would not get to meet on the racetrack.

“I have always said what an incredible horse Big Brown is and that the bay colt brought energy and excitement to our industry, especially during his run at the Triple Crown,” Jackson said in a statement. “I am equally disappointed that Big Brown and Curlin will never compete against each other. It was a dream of mine and thousands of other fans of the sport. Now, we all join together in wishing Big Brown a speedy recovery.”

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer