Big Brown's rivals applaud the Preakness winner

By Steve Ginsburg

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Big Brown's rivals in the Preakness Stakes praised the unbeaten colt following his dominating 5-1/4-length triumph on Saturday and predicted he could win the coveted Triple Crown.

"We just got beat by a monster," said jockey Julien Leparoux, who finished second aboard Macho Again. "He might just be a Triple Crown winner."

Big Brown had an easy time recording his fifth win in five career starts. The average margin of victory for the Kentucky Derby champion is nearly eight lengths.

"You've got to salute the winner," said Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, who saddled Stevil to a fifth-place finish in the Preakness. "There's no question he's a tremendous horse."

Big Brown is clearly the class of the three-year-old crop of thoroughbreds but whether he has the stamina to complete the first Triple Crown in 30 years remains in doubt.

Since Affirmed won the last Triple Crown in 1978, 10 horses have needed a Belmont Stakes victory to complete U.S. thoroughbred racing's most cherished achievement and failed.

The Triple Crown dreams of Big Brown jockey Kent Desormeaux's vanished 10 years ago when his mount, Real Quiet, finished second in the grueling mile-and-a-half affair.

The 38-year-old Desormeaux said he can now better negotiate the difference between the turns at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course and those at Belmont Park in New York.  Continued...