Jockey Kent Desormeaux took what he called an "armchair" ride on Big Brown yesterday, easing his way down the front stretch at Pimlico Race Course to a memorable Preakness victory that will send him on a historic journey.
Just 1 minute, 54.80 seconds after leaving the starting gate, Big Brown crossed the line, his ears pricked, his legs rising and falling in a comfortable gallop, his closest competitor 5 1/4 lengths up the track.
Big Brown is going to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 with a shot at becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.
"I've been blessed ... with a freak of a horse," Desormeaux said. "It was just the easiest win ever."
Bettors made him the 1-5 favorite, and Big Brown paid only $2.40 to win. Macho Again came home second and paid $17.20 and $10.40, while Icabad Crane, winner of the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico, was the surprising third-place finisher for Fair Hill-based trainer Graham Motion and paid $5.60.
"He's a superstar," said Dallas Stewart, trainer of second-place finisher Macho Again. "We hooked a great horse, but at the eighth pole it looked like he was just coasting."
Before the race, Big Brown's owners, IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., reached agreement with Three Chimneys on a breeding rights package that will retire him before his 4-year-old season.
But yesterday, Big Brown joined Majestic Prince (1969), Seattle Slew (1977) and Smarty Jones (2004) as the only undefeated Kentucky Derby winners to also win the Preakness. Now, he will go to New York with a chance to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 and the 12th in history.
There have been 18 others with the opportunity who have failed, but confidence is not in small supply on the Big Brown team. The Woodlawn Vase had barely been accepted when trainer Rick Dutrow told all those waiting at Belmont to beware.
"I don't think I'm afraid of anything," said Dutrow, the Hagerstown native who grew up helping his father train horses at Pimlico. "I don't think that anything worries me as long as the horse comes out of the race good. We're going to point him to the race, try to get him there the best way we can and we're going to be excited and just be hoping for the best.
"I'm not afraid of a mile and a half. I'm not afraid of five weeks, three races. The horse just keeps impressing - any time they asked him for anything, he's been way ahead of us. He's waiting on us."
