by Ed DeRosa

Big Brown’s victory in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) must have looked a lot more impressive live than it did on television.

Only the connections of Gayego have decided to take on the undefeated Boundary colt in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course. The rest of the 12-horse field (Behindatthebar scratched Friday morning) is comprised of Triple Crown newcomers.

Big Brown’s trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., thinks the only thing that can keep his horse from becoming the first Derby-Preakness winner since Smarty Jones in 2004 is the two weeks between the two races.

“I don’t like the two weeks,” Dutrow said. “But it’s our race to lose; we’re the best horse in the race.”

Big Brown returned to the track on May 7 and mostly jogged at Churchill Downs. He shipped to Baltimore on Wednesday, galloped two miles Thursday, and jogged a mile Friday. Dutrow planned to let Big Brown blot out a quarter-mile down the lane on Saturday morning about 12 hours before the race.

“I think it will help him along,” Dutrow said. “If I miss days because of weather, then I try it. I never planned to breeze the horse between the Derby and Preakness. This can help sharpen him.”

While most horsemen have been reverent of Big Brown’s accomplishments in his relatively short four-race career, the connections of Kentucky Bear have been bullish on how their Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) third-place finisher stacks up. Kentucky Bear is the only horse in the race with less experience than Big Brown.

“He beat a lot of horses [in the Derby], but he didn’t beat us,” said Reade Baker, who trains Kentucky Bear for Danny Dion’s Bear Stables. “I look at the rest of the field, and I don’t think they look like superstars.”

Eddie Plesa Jr., who trains Holy Bull Stakes (G3) winner Hey Byrn for Bea Oxenberg, said that he was surprised that 13 horses entered the race.

“There are a lot of things scary about Big Brown; he’s been better than every horse he’s run against,” Plesa said. “Time will tell if he’s a champion, though.”

And when it comes to championships, no race this decade has been more defining than the Preakness, which has produced the last seven three-year-old male champions during a period in which the Derby and Belmont produced only five champions combined.

Ed DeRosa is news editor of Thoroughbred Times

The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, trainer, and morning-line odds:

1. Macho Again (Macho Uno), Julien Leparoux, 126, Dallas Stewart, 20-to-1;

2. Tres Borrachos (Ecton Park), Tyler Baze, 126, Beau Greeley, 30-to-1;

3. Icabad Crane (Jump Start), Jeremy Rose, 126, Graham Motion, 30-to-1;

4. Yankee Bravo (Yankee Gentleman), Alex Solis, 126, Patrick Gallagher, 15-to-1;

5. Behindatthebar (Forest Wildcat), David Flores, 126, Todd Pletcher, 10-to-1;

6. Racecar Rhapsody (Tale of the Cat), SCRATCHED;

7. Big Brown (Boundary), Kent Desormeaux, 126, Rick Dutrow Jr., 1-to-2;

8. Kentucky Bear (Mr. Greeley), Jamie Theriot, 126, Reade Baker, 15-to-1;

9. Stevil (Maria's Mon), Rafael Bejarano, 126, Nick Zito, 30-to-1;

10. Riley Tucker (Harlan's Holiday), John Velazquez, 126, Bill Mott, 30-to-1;

11. Giant Moon (Giant's Causeway), Jorge Chavez, 126, Richard Schosberg, 30-to-1;

12. Gayego (Gilded Time), Mike Smith, 126, Paulo Lobo, 7-to-1; and

13. Hey Byrn (Put It Back), Charles Lopez, 126, Edward Plesa Jr., 20-to-1.