No mere horse has been able to challenge Big Brown's speed, but today at Belmont Park, the handsome, personable colt will attempt to outrun something bigger - history.
If he succeeds, he'll become the 12th thoroughbred since 1919, and the first since Affirmed in 1978, to win the Triple Crown.
The 30-year drought is the longest ever in the series. Many observers think Big Brown is the horse to overcome the turns of fate and the grueling 1 1/2-mile course that have stymied previous contenders. The winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness remains an overwhelming favorite despite a crack in his left front hoof and the arrival of a fresh challenger from Japan in Casino Drive (suffering his own hoof trouble in the form of a bruise).
"I think he's incredibly talented," said ESPN analyst Jeannine Edwards, who lives in Cecil County. "He has brilliant speed, and he's proven that he can carry it over ground."
For a further sense of the confidence in his talent, simply listen to Big Brown's closest associates.
Jockey Kent Desormeaux, who made his name in Maryland and nearly won the 1998 Triple Crown on Real Quiet, calls the horse the best he has ridden.
Trainer Rick Dutrow, who learned the sport at his father's knee at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, has issued increasingly bold predictions about his horse's chances. "I expect him to win this race," he said of the Belmont. "It's a foregone conclusion to me."
Ten years ago, Dutrow was sleeping in a barn at New York's Aqueduct track. His girlfriend had recently been murdered, and he was battling addictions that had left him estranged from his father, the late Maryland trainer Dickie Dutrow.
The Triple Crown would help complete his tale of redemption.
Horsemen also hope a Big Brown victory will offer redemption for an industry troubled by declines in track attendance and betting, and by questions about the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby. More than 128,000 have bought tickets to Belmont, passing the 2004 record of 120,139 and indicating the allure of a Triple Crown win.
"It's been a tough year economically and a tough year in terms of some of the things that generate negative press attention," said Dan Rosenberg, a longtime Kentucky farm executive and breeding expert. "But a Triple Crown winner has always been a shot in the arm. A great horse, a hero, can make up for a lot."
