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May 19, 2008 6:55 pm US/Eastern
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Big Brown Heads To Big Apple After Preakness Win
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Nearly 40 hours after Big Brown delivered a memorable 5 ¼ length victory in the $1 million Preakness Stakes, Big Brown is considered one of the greatest horses of all time.
Mike Schuh reports he seems to be on track to winning racing's first Triple Crown in 30 years.
Big Brown is pretty impressive. Millions of people have seen him on television, but Friday morning about a hundred track veterans gathered around, merely to be in the presence of the current king of horse racing.
At the barn, the bags are packed and ready to go. The center of attention, though, has been carrying no baggage for the last few weeks.
Big Brown won the first two of the three races, which makes up what is called the Triple Crown. He demolished the competition at the Kentucky Derby. In Baltimore, he was so strong, running so fast, his jockey actually slowed him down before the finish.
Now, it's time to leave. He's heading back to Long Island. Big Brown is walking a path taken by his great great grandfather, Northern Dancer. It's a path leading to the last stop of the Triple Crown--the Belmont Stakes.
Brown seems to know he's special, posing for photos.
"I am feeling pretty confident about things," trainer Rick Dutrow said. "I can see that he is sharp. Yesterday he was bouncing and today the same thing. He is doing good and that makes everything so much easier."
Big Brown, who has won all of his five career races by a combined 39 lengths, is only the fourth horse to emerge from the Kentucky Derby and Preakness undefeated, joining Majestic Prince (1969), Seattle Slew (1977) and Smarty Jones (2004). Seattle Slew is the only horse in history to emerge undefeated from the Belmont Stakes and a Triple Crown sweep.
"Everyone can see he is a special kind of horse," Dutrow said. "As long as we can keep him well within himself, we'll have a chance. Everybody is very excited about him and how can you not be. It looks like he has a chance at being one of the best ever. If we get beat in the Belmont we are just going to be amongst a whole lot of horses that almost got there so we need to win this race. He looks like by far that he is the best horse going into the race."
After walking at 8 a.m, the colt boarded the Brook Ledge van without incident and exited the Pimlico backstretch at 10 a.m. headed for the Big Apple.
If he goes to the Belmont and then to breeding, the babies will come back.
Some of those at Monday's departure made it be known that they weren't even born 30 years ago when "Affirmed" was the last horse to win the Triple Crown. Big Brown's next race is the longest at one-and-a-half miles.
That race is June 7 on Long Island. It's expected that 120,000 people will attend the race. There are 20,000 seats and scalpers are already charging $50 to $150 for general admission tickets.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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