Belmont Stakes: Big Brown ready to race after great workout

Belmont Stakes: Big Brown ready to race after great workout The hoof issues would hardly affect Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes, after a great workout on Tuesday. This was the only official workout for the 3-year-old, and Big Brown did the five furlongs on the Belmont Park track in a flat one-minute. "He [Big Brown] was a little rank, trying to do a lot early. So I had to take a pretty good hold of him. The last couple of days, he's been a little rough to handle. He was ready to go, and I'm glad it's done. He came home quick," exercise rider Michelle Nevin said after the workout was complete. Big Brown, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, will attempt a shot at the Triple Crown on Saturday, an achievement last completed by Affirmed. A crack on the hoof put Big Brown in jeopardy for the Belmont Stakes, but treatment of the quarter-crack by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay is proving to work wonders. "I'm not going to put a patch on it until Friday. And the only reason for that is to let it dry up as much as possible. It is coming along well, and everything is on schedule," McKinlay commented.

The hoof injury did little to change the odds offered on Big Brown and the Belmont Stakes. At the online sportsbook BodogSports the 3-year-old is still -300 favorite to win the Triple Crown, as well as big favorite to win the Belmont Stakes. For the 2008 Belmont Stakes the odds on Big Brown are now 1/3, and Casino Drive is the only competitor in the single digit odds at 7/2. Denis of Cork holds Belmont Stakes betting odds of 10/1 and Tale of Ekati is at 20/1 to win the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown's dominance on the track is so apparent - the bookie is offering odds on the Belmont Stakes without the 3-year-old Derby winner. On the Belmont Stakes odds without Big Brown (meaning his finishing position will be ignored) Casino Drive is the leader with odds 11/10, followed by Denis of Cork at 4/1 and Tale of Ekati with odds 7/1.

Published on 06/03/2008