Big Brown in the barn prior to the Preakness (rick samuels photography)

at the real prospect of a Triple Crown winner. I was over at YouTube watching replays of Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and others when this pops up on my RSS.

Then, over at Railbird, this rumor resonated with something that seemed odd to me but I passed off as my apparently new seasonal allergy induced drowsiness (which is irritatingly impervious to caffeine).

In an(other) article about how a mount for Casino Drive hasn’t been decided upon yet:

Desormeaux’s mount for the Belmont is unbeaten Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Big Brown, who will have to outrun Casino Drive to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner.

Nobutaka Tada, managing director of Globe Equine Management Ltd. and spokesperson for Yamamoto and Fujisawa, expects a jockey decision to be made soon and said Take is one of the riders being considered.

…

“We will wait a few days to see how Big Brown is doing and how we are doing,” Tada said.

Desormeaux has ridden Big Brown in four straight starts, including a 5 1/4-length victory in the Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course. The Boundary colt previously scored a 4 3/4-length win under Desormeaux in the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

Odd, right? I mean why mention that they’ll wait to see how Big Brown is doing? Perhaps I’m taking it out of context too much because the next paragraph goes on to quote Tada as saying that BB was impressive in the Derby and Preakness but that they brought Casino Drive here specifically for this race. But still.

Well, I guess I could have included a “He won’t make it to the Belmont” selection in my poll but even I wouldn’t have voted for that! I actually voted for “They’ll go after Curlin“, and I still really, really hope for that.

So, let’s hope Babe is right and that it really is no big deal… at least that’s what I hope (along with a full 3 yo campaign where he stays sound).