Big Brown is the clear favorite for the Preakness Stakes on May 17th.
Big Brown now faces an all-too-quick two-week turnaround to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.
The arduous 1 1/2-mile “Test of a Champion” that is the Belmont Stakes follows on June 7 at New York’s Belmont Park.
Kentucky-bred Big Brown, his skin glistening in the morning sun, looked as if he was ready to get it on again as he was bathed outside Barn 22 on Sunday. But it was too soon for him to tell his alert handlers much of anything about his readiness for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.
Dutrow, recognizing the history that appears to be well within reach, does not intend to give him a workout before the Preakness. He wants to do everything possible to minimize the Triple Crown grind of three races in five weeks.
“Light training,” Dutrow said of his immediate plans. “I don’t see any reason to put pressure on him.
“I know we have the best horse. I know that.”
Jockey Kent Desormeaux proclaimed Big Brown as the best horse he’s ever ridden for his combination of speed and intelligence. It is a huge statement since he was aboard Derby champions Real Quiet (1998) and Fusaichi Pegasus (2000).
“He’s got the ability to have multiple gears,” Desormeaux said. “I mean, this is only what Derby winners can do. They can move you into a position, and then cruise, and then take you to another position and then cruise again. That’s what he does.
“What is the gear like? Every time I ask him, it’s like leaving the starting gate again.”
The most impressive aspect of Big Brown’s triumph was his willingness to bide his time in sixth place through much of the backstretch run before unleashing an overwhelming move.
“I just left him alone and let him canter until I needed him,” Desormeaux said. “I showed him the stick and — whoosh! — he puts me in a new position.”
He may just place them in Triple Crown history.
New Competition for Big Brown in the Preakness
Looks like Big Brown’s resounding Kentucky Derby victory has scared away a lot of the competition.
Almost none of his 19 Derby rivals want to run against the undefeated colt again, so at least eight new horses will try to derail Big Brown’s shot at the Triple Crown with a victory in the Preakness.
The only Derby holdover may be Recapturetheglory, who was fifth Saturday, although trainer Louie Rousell II was leaning toward giving his colt a 30-day vacation.
The fresh horses worry trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., who is leery about such a quick turnaround for Big Brown.
“You’ve got to come right back off that huge, huge race. I know it looks like he’s the best horse, but Pimlico’s a different game,” Dutrow said Sunday. “Maybe there’s going to be some hotshot speed horse in there, maybe it will rain, it will be sloppy, maybe some other horse will really like it.”
Big Brown defied Derby history with a 4 3/4-length victory that made him the first horse since the filly Regret in 1915 to win off just three career starts and the second to win from post position No. 20.
Dutrow plans to stay at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and train Big Brown until shipping the horse to Baltimore on May 14.
“He’ll go to the Preakness as one of the most overwhelming favorites,” said trainer Nick Zito, whose Derby horses finished seventh and 15th, respectively. “You can’t say enough good things. He was tremendous.”
Big Brown accelerated to the lead at the top of the stretch and was never challenged while putting away the rest of the field with an explosive finishing kick under jockey Kent Desormeaux.
“I don’t know who’s going to beat him,” said Graham Motion, who trained 19th-place Adriano. “To win off three starts … even Curlin could not do that.”
Dutrow had pretty much guaranteed Big Brown’s Derby win, but he was subdued a day later while considering the new challenge.
“I said on paper before the race it looks like a mismatch to me, but Pimlico is a different game,” he said. “I really liked him in this race because everything was perfect; now things start to change.”
Big Brown is 4-0 in his brief career, winning by a total of 33 3/4 lengths. But Dutrow was cautious in assessing his colt’s potential to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont and give racing its first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.
“I don’t see that he beat a great Derby field, so I wouldn’t know how to judge things,” he said. “Like Secretariat (in 1973), that was the best crop I’ve ever seen in my life, and he beat ‘em - he took ‘em to the cleaners every time he ran against them. I’m not one to compare him against past horses. It just wasn’t a strong Derby field other than our horse.”
Big Brown’s likely challengers in the Preakness include Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebar, trained by Todd Pletcher, and San Rafael winner El Gato Malo.
Surgery successful for colt: A Michael Matz-trained horse that broke down in a race Friday at Churchill Downs made it through surgery successfully Monday, and a veterinarian upgraded his survival chances to 60 percent.
Dr. Larry Bramlage, a vet at Rood and Riddle in Lexington, Ky., fused bones in Chelokee’s right front ankle and replaced ligaments in the back of the limb. Bramlage said the horse’s blood supply had returned.
“He’s back in the stall, eating well,” he said. “Everything went as planed.”
Bramlage said there remains some risk after the surgery, but his odds of making it now are better than originally thought.
Chelokee has won five of 10 lifetime starts, including the Barbaro Stakes last May on Preakness day at Pimlico. Barbaro, also trained by Matz, won the 2006 Kentucky Derby before breaking down in the Preakness and being euthanized months later.
Bramlage said the injury to the horses were similar, although Chelokee avoided a fracture.
Our Pick: Big Brown will win the Preakness Stakes. The odds won’t make it worth the bet though!
