Big Brown Ready for Triple Crown
Trainer Dutrow Not Put Off By Quarter Crack, PP, or Japanese Entry
Jun 5, 2008
Big Brown is showing his eagerness to run, and his trainer, Richard Dutrow, Jr. fears nothing his horse will face Saturday in the Belmont Stakes in an attempt to win the first Triple Crown championship in thirty years, including a bothersome quarter crack in his left front hoof, breaking from the favored No.1 gate, and the unbeaten Casino Drive (3-0), a Japanese-trained entry.
"It's All Good, Babe"
Dutrow's signature "It's all good, babe" was heard a number of times before the running of the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago. And Big Brown backed him up, winning a trip to Elmont, New York and a shot at Triple Crown glory after easily putting away the Preakness field. Brown faced no real opposition as jockey Kent Desormeaux got his second straight smooth trip and a burst like jet engines when he asked Big Brown to move out.
This week, Dutrow Jr.'s language has been a little sharper, perhaps brought on by nerves before the biggest race of his life. His claim is the same -- Big Brown to win handily -- but his smile is a little tighter, his patience a little stretched in repeating his explanation that Brown's quarter crack will not be an issue in the race.
Big Brown has been repeatedly treated for quarter crack injuries by Ian McKinlay since he began racing. He wears a special cushioned shoe that is designed to bear his weight without further injury to his hoof. McKinlay developed the shoe, and is a quarter crack specialist.
Post Position No.1 Awaits Big Brown
From the No.20 post in the Kentucky Derby, Big Brown won by 4-3/4 lengths, just the second horse in history to do so. The first was a son of Man o' War. From the No.7 post in the Preakness, Brown encountered no problem other than a small stumble out of the gate. He positioned well, going to the outside for room, and ran everyone down in a booming stretch run that didn't even use all his energy.
Now he gets the No.1 gate for the Belmont Stakes and a crack at history. Can he become the first colt in 30 years to capture the Triple Crown? Twenty-three Belmont Stakes victories have been launched from the No.1 post position since 1905.
Japanese Amused At Dutrow's Confident Talk
Dutrow, Jr. says Big Brown will do anything "you would want him to do."
It's an eerie comparison to the control-speak issued by Stewart Elliott, who rode Smarty Jones to the brink of a Triple Crown title in 2004, and the chestnut's trainer, John Servis. Smarty was a push-button horse, they said. But he was uncontrollable in the Belmont.
Hidetoshi Yamamoto, owner of unbeaten Casino Drive, who will challenge Big Brown from a second favorite's position, and the horse's racing manager, Nobutaka Tada don't take much stock in Dutrow, Jr.'s talk. Chatter doesn't win anything, Yamamoto claimed, and Tada chimed in with the news that he was amused by such chatter.
It will soon be known if chatter and a TC championship will live together, or separate in the long run.
