by Ed DeRosa

Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Big Brown got his first look at the Pimlico Race Course surface on Thursday when he galloped two miles in preparation for the Preakness Stakes (G1) on Saturday.

“He’s confident, cool, and relaxed,” said Richard Dutrow Jr. who trains the Boundary colt for IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr. “I’m not sure that he needs to take his track with him. He looked happy out there. I won’t complain about the track if we lose.”

Big Brown has raced or trained on five different surfaces and has won on dirt and turf. With surface and disposition concerns not a factor leading up to the Preakness, only the two-week break between the Derby and Preakness worries Dutrow.

“I don’t like running back on two weeks rest,” Dutrow said. “I can’t breeze him; I can’t work with him. He’s doing good, though; he hasn’t missed an oat.

“I’d rather run a horse on three or four-days rest or 30-40 days rest, but that doesn’t mean that’s what Big Brown wants. He’s fresh. He didn’t race a lot at two, so maybe the two weeks is an advantage for him.”

Big Brown drew the middle post position in the Preakness field of 13. He will have six to his inside and six to his outside when the race begins. Dutrow said that it will be up to jockey Kent Desormeaux to decide on what trip will work best for the Derby winner. He could be on the lead a quarter-mile into the race or he could be just off the pace.

“I hope we’re forwardly placed in the first turn,” Dutrow said. “I hope he doesn’t have to get on his belly for this race, so we have something left for the Belmont [Stakes (G1)]. I don’t want to empty the tank.”

Big Brown is trying to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to sweep the American Triple Crown and the first since Smarty Jones in ’04 to win both the Derby and Preakness. Michael Iavarone, co-president of IEAH, said that Big Brown would be unlikely to race in the Belmont if he loses the Preakness.

Dutrow is trying not to look too far ahead, though. For him, Saturday cannot get here fast enough.

“I’m just wasting time until Saturday,” Dutrow said.

Ed DeRosa is news editor of Thoroughbred Times