He was domineering winning the Kentucky Derby from the 20 slot and in the Preakness he won from the 6 hole. Big Brown was simply far the best again that day and his move to take the lead at the quarter pole will be talked about in racing circles for years to come. The undefeated big bay moves down to the fence for the longest and toughest leg of the Triple Crown.  Dutrow says, “Post position will not get this horse beat.” Since 1905, more horses (23) have won the Belmont from the 1 post than any other position. The ripple-muscled, bay colt would be the stone-cold favorite from any post and to have just one more plus factor doesn’t carry much significance; he is 2-5 as is. The way Dutrow talks, Big Brown could win if he were to break from his stall door! Some people agree and others fear he may be right.

How do you beat this 2-5 horse?  I don’t think you can, he has to defeat himself.  The beauty of horse racing is that’s not impossible. The itty-bitty quarter crack repaired by Ian McKinlay remains an Achilles heel. It literally hurts right to the quick when a quarter crack gives and such a happening would stop any horse, even Godzilla. I highly doubt that will happen; the procedure McKinlay applied works really well.  Can Big Brown stumble over his pedigree? Maybe. His sire, Boundary, has been more successful getting speed horses than stayers and to my knowledge no horse of his has won a graded stakes  going a 1 1/2.  But remember, we have few races going that distance in America.  Guadalcanal, a maiden entering the Belmont confirms how few chances a trainer has to run young horses a distance of ground.  You can bet that Fred Seitz would not prefer the Belmont Stakes, against the likes of Big Brown if he had other viable options to test his colt at the distance. American racing stumbles on itself to cause this scenario!

Casino Drive, the Japanese trained colt breaks from the 5 post and is 7-2 in the morning line.

There will be a lot of Triples if he wins in his third start. It would give his dam, Better Than Honour, an unprecedented third successive Belmont winner and for the third time his jockey, Edgar Prado, would be the “spoiler” of the Triple Crown.  He was aboard Sarava in 2002 to foil War Emblem’s Triple and Birdstone in 2004 to take the Crown away from Smarty Jones. 

Prado doesn’t require extra incentives to ride to win but you can bet that in his heart, he REALLY wants to beat Big Brown. An injury forced Prado to miss riding Big Brown when he broke his maiden in Saratoga for then trainer Patrick Reynolds. Prado was working the colt in the mornings in FL after new ownership transferred the colt to Dutrow’s barn. He was obviously thinking he would be named to ride him. The rest is history, but it adds to the drama of the day. 

What great excitement and international acclaim it could bring to American racing for Casino Drive to step up and surprise on Saturday.  Fans will want to note that this horse races without bleeder medication and is not steroid injected. Japan, like Europe does not allow horses to race on these medications and his connections prefer to race without them here too. 

Macho Again was second in the Preakness and has been training well.  Sure would be a gray day for Big Brown to see this colt take the Belmont. I like Icabad Crane’s chances if Big Brown fails to deliver. Graham Motion is my kind of trainer, he races this colt without steroids and he knows what to do and (what not to do) with a good horse. This colt has been training well, was third in the Preakness and has Jeremy Rose of Afleet Alex fame in the irons.  Denis of Cork could be in the mix if the top colts disappoint. Tale of Ekaki is like Big Brown in only one way, he is also steroid enhanced. I don’t blame Barclay Tagg for using the juice, it’s legal and for sure this horse needs a crutch to be competitive against Big Brown. That’s the problem with legalizing drugs; where do you go from there? Remember too, that Big Brown and Tale of Ekaki are two horses we know have received steroids, some other trainers have chosen not to disclose yes or no to the question.

The trainers all have their reasons for entering in this grueling test of champions.  Let’s hope they all have a safe trip and naturally we hope the best horse wins.

Marilyn Lane, a freelance writer, has a lifelong association with horses. Her experience includes more than 20 years as an owner, trainer and breeder of thoroughbreds. She was an assistant trainer to Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg during Alysheba’s racing career. You can reach her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it