BALTIMORE – The trainer who engineered the second-biggest upset in Triple Crown history is taking dead aim to do it again today by upending hot favorite Big Brown in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
“Big Brown is vulnerable because he has never been battle-tested,” said Ken McPeek, who stunned the racing world in 2002 when he saddled the 70-1 shot Sarava to win the Belmont Stakes. Only one other horse in 134 years has won at a bigger price – Donerail, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1913 at 91-1.
“Big Brown has never had eight pounds of dirt or mud thrown in his face,” McPeek said yesterday at the rain-sodden barn. “He’s going to get it this weekend. That’s the test of a champion, to run through a wall of mud and dirt and keep going. Curlin did it last year in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“Big Brown needs to do it. Someone from the outside or the inside is going to test him. They’re going to make him run.
“The issue of the Preakness will be determined at the gate and how Big Brown handles it. The first half-mile will dictate whether he can get it done.
“He’s the best horse in the race, but we have to hope he has a chink in the armor.”
Minutes later, in a media crush under a tent, Big Brown’s trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., almost echoed McPeek.
“I’m not as confident of winning the Preakness as I was before the Kentucky Derby,” Dutrow said.
“It won’t surprise me a bit if Big Brown gets beat,” McPeek said. “This is a funny game. A lot can happen. Horses lose these races all the time. Also, Big Brown has a big target on his back. Every rider in that race, when they leave the gate, is going to be watching him.”
McPeek will saddle Racecar Rhapsody, a 30-1 shot. The colt has won only a maiden race, but he has finished fourth in his last three starts, all graded stakes races. He trails early, but finishes fast, late.
“My horses run best third off the layoff,” the trainer said. “Racecar Rhapsody is third off the layoff. He loves the mud and he’s revved up like a racecar.”
Beau Greely, who will saddle the speedy Tres Borrachos, third in the Arkansas Derby, thinks like McPeek.
“I was very happy to see Big Brown draw in the middle of the field,” he said. “We know he can win from the outside, but he’s never been between horses, he has less seasoning, and he might get knocked around.
“Maybe it will make a difference, maybe it won’t.”
Dutrow himself brusquely dismissed the “dirt-in-the-face” angle.
“I’m not concerned. I don’t see that that is going to happen,” Dutrow said. “If he breaks with the field, I don’t see anyone tossing dirt in his face. He’ll adjust.”
Yet, Dutrow was uncharacteristically cautious.
“The Preakness is different from the Derby because of the training,” he said. “He trained like clockwork for the Derby. He seems to be the same horse, but you never know, because he hasn’t had any breezes [coming into the Preakness]. No one can tell me how he’s going to run [today].
“He looks like he’s going to run his race, but the two weeks [since the Derby] is the question mark. I can’t feel as confident about tomorrow as I did before the Derby.
“I’m not saying somebody is going to beat him. I don’t see that happening. I feel very confident about [today].”
But as the clock ticks down, it seems all Big Brown’s rivals are living in hope.
Dutrow laughed: “You’ll be lucky to get 1-2 about Big Brown at post time.”