One day after Big Brown’s electrifying 5 1/4-length romp in the Preakness Stakes (G1), trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. reflected on the unbeaten Boundary colt’s brilliant performance and meteoric rise to prominence with five wins by a combined 39 lengths.

Big Brown rolled to a 4 3/4-length score in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) on May 3 and he dispatched 11 overmatched rivals in the Preakness under a hand ride from jockey Kent Desormeaux. The 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 7 stands between Big Brown and a spot in Thoroughbred history as the 12th winner of the Triple Crown and the first since Affirmed in 1978.

“Everybody wants to see something great. Maybe we’re going to see that. That’d be a lot of fun,” Dutrow said. “Everybody’s going to find out where he belongs. If he wins his next race, he’s going to be up there with any good horse that’s ever run. ...When everybody’s talking about him, he’d be in the same breath as Secretariat, Affirmed, all those good ones.”

Dutrow said Big Brown came out of the Preakness in good order and he will be shipped to Belmont Park on Monday at 10 a.m. EDT.

“If he comes out of it good, trains good, I don’t see a problem,” said Dutrow, glancing over to Big Brown’s stall. ”It looks like he’s ready.

“He’s not an aggressive type horse where he wants to run off with the jock early on. He’ll do whatever Kent wants him to do at the time. He just falls into the race. That’s going to help him get a mile-and-a-half.”

Dutrow, who is based at Aqueduct, plans to stable Big Brown with Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel in the stall once occupied by 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker.

“Both of my brothers [Tony and Chip] have worked for Bobby. My dad and he were friends,” Dutrow said. “I never have worked for Bobby, but I have worked with Bobby, not only with his horses, but with mine. It’s always good to have someone like that to talk to and try to get direction when I’m not sure what I’m doing.

“I want Bobby to meet the horse. Bobby’s one of the best horsemen who ever lived. He belongs being around a horse like this. This is maybe one of the best horses that has ever lived,” he added. “I see those two getting along good.”

The Belmont Stakes is expected to feature a showdown between Big Brown and highly regarded Casino Drive, a half brother to 2007 Belmont winner Rags to Riches and ’06 Belmont winner Jazil. Casino Drive won his career debut by 11 1/2 lengths on February 23 in Japan and powered to a 5 3/4-length win in the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) on May 10 in his North American debut.

“[Casino Drive] has got only two starts,” Dutrow said. “He just ran a big race, a big number [on the Ragozin Sheets]. He’s going to have to come back in a month off that race, which isn’t going to be easy for him. Most of the time when horses come in from other countries and they’re in quarantine for so long, they run good off the plane but then they’ve got to sit a long time and their next race might not be so strong. I don’t know why, but that’s usually how it goes.

“I’d like to have the horse, but I don’t see him beating Big Brown. What I saw of him, he doesn’t have that quick turn [of foot], where he just turns it on.”

Other horses possible for the Belmont Stakes include Preakness runner-up Macho Again and third-place finisher Icabad Crane, Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) winner Tale of Ekati, Grade 2 winner Anak Nakal, Southwest Stakes (G3) winner Denis of Cork, and Peruvian classic winner Tomcito.

Trainer Dallas Stewart was pleased with Macho Again’s runner-up finish in the Preakness, but would not yet commit to the Belmont.

”It was just a super performance, just awesome,” Stewart said. “He really threw it down. It was unbelievable.

“We really haven’t given [the Belmont] a hard thought yet. We’ve got three weeks to think about it. You’ve got to make sure everything is right with the horse and the horse is doing good.”

Trainer Graham Motion believes Icabad Crane will be able to handle the distance of the Belmont Stakes, but he too will wait to make a decision on the final jewel of the 2008 Triple Crown.

”I think it’s definitely a possibility,” Motion said. “Obviously, we want to see how he is, but I think Jeremy [Rose] feels that the distance is not an issue with him. I think with a cleaner trip yesterday, there was a good shot that we would have been a good second. With that in mind, we might pursue it.

“It’s not through lack of respect for Big Brown, because obviously he’s the horse we all thought he was. But he’s still got to go out there and win the race. It’s three weeks from now and a lot can happen between now and then.”