Elmont, N.Y. -- At Churchill Downs, the black limo was completely out of place amid the pickups and ponies along the backstretch. It was parked outside the barn last month, and Big Brown's connections emerged. The horse's owner wore a dark blazer and Versace sunglasses, his eyes focused on a glowing cell phone as he indifferently answered reporters' questions.
At Pimlico Race Course, arriving from Kentucky 10 days later, Big Brown was nearly two hours late to the track and the last horse to exit the trailer. He could've come straight from the set of Entourage as he casually strolled to the barn, belatedly satisfying the camera-toting journalists-turned-paparazzi.
And at Belmont Park, officially signed now as poster boy for UPS and Hooters, Big Brown was relatively quiet leading up to today's Belmont Stakes. Lucky for him, his trainer talked enough for the both of them.
Thankfully, the Belmont Stakes has finally arrived. These past several weeks, even as his bluster and bravado were aimed at illuminating his horse's brilliance, Rick Dutrow's immodesty came to overshadow it.
In case you haven't paid much attention since Big Brown cruised to victory at the Preakness, here's an abridged version of the Tao of Dutrow:
"I feel as confident as I ever have with the horse. He looks better now than he ever looked." So he'll win? "No one is going to catch him. I can't wait." The Triple Crown, in fact, is a "foregone conclusion." And it might not even be close. "If he ever gets the lead in the Belmont, the race is going to be over." So, does anyone have a chance? "Forget about it. There's no way in the world there's any horse that's doing any better than Big Brown. It's impossible."
Whew. Take a second. Catch your breath. And let's mourn the passing of humility. She was a noble concept, to be sure, underappreciated yet quietly prized. She's nowhere to be found around today's race, which would provide the final jewel in Big Brown's Triple Crown. A win shouldn't surprise many. Dutrow has poured a stiff cocktail of prophecy and pomposity to anyone within earshot.
"I have been trying to be humble and modest," Dutrow says, "but the horse is just throwing up so many different signs. ... I do not feel like I have been talking real big. I feel I have been talking facts."
So did Joe Namath. So does every guy wearing overpriced sneakers on a basketball court. So do 95 percent of the NFL wide receivers.
