Big Brown wins Preakness, extends Triple Crown bid
BALTIMORE, Maryland (AFP) — Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown won the 133rd Preakness Stakes in explosive style here Saturday to set up a date with destiny at the Belmont Stakes.
Big Brown, trained by Rick Dutrow jnr and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, romped to a 5 1/4-length victory in the one million-dollar, 1 3/16-mile race to remain unbeaten in five career starts.
The lightly raced colt emphatically answered any questions about his ability to bounce back so quickly after his Kentucky Derby triumph on May 3 and will head to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 with the chance to become the 12th horse to capture US flat racing's coveted Triple Crown.
"He just keeps on getting better," Dutrow said. "He just keeps showing everyone he's special."
The last horse to sweep the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. In that 30-year span, 10 horses have won both the Derby and Preakness but were beaten in the demanding 1 1/2-mile Belmont, most recently Smarty Jones in 2004.
Dutrow, however, remained full of confidence in his colt.
"He didn't get out on his belly," Dutrow said. "He should have enough left."
Macho Again, trained by Dallas Stewart and with Julien Leparoux in the irons, was second and Icabad Crane, trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Jeremy Rose, was third.
In contrast to the Kentucky Derby, where he had to cover a lot of ground in becoming the first horse in 69 years to win from the outside 20th post, Big Brown broke from the seventh post in the middle of the 12-horse field.
He was third at the half-mile mark and beautifully placed on the turn for home. Desormeaux took Big Brown to the outside and the colt accelerated away, leaving the rest of the field in his wake.
"It was almost like the Kentucky Derby. He just set sail," Desormeaux said.
"I looked between my legs, under my arms, they were eight back. I just stopped riding, reeled him in and just made sure he didn't pull up. He just kept kicking his legs up and striding for the wire."
Big Brown joined Majestic Prince (1969), Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (1977) and Smarty Jones as unbeaten Derby winners who also won the Preakness.
Now the big question is whether anyone will be able to challenge Big Brown in the Belmont. His five career victories have come by an average of nearly eight lengths.
He won the Kentucky Derby by 4 3/4 lengths, a race marred by the death of the second-place finisher, filly Eight Belles, shortly after the finish.
"It's just mind-boggling," said co-owner Michael Iavarone. "It's the greatest experience I've ever had."
Gayego, the only Kentucky Derby starter who returned to challenge Big Brown in the Preakness, faded to finish 11th.
Desormeaux once again heads to Belmont, dubbed the "Test of the Champion," with a chance to win the Triple Crown.
In 1998, he was aboard Real Quiet, who won the Derby and Preakness but was edged by a nose in the Belmont by Victory Gallop.
