Big Brown Favored at Belmont on Saturday

June 6, 2008 -- It's been three decades since horse racing's most coveted prize, the Triple Crown, was last claimed. But this year, many have pinned their hopes on Big Brown, the thoroughbred who has already captured the first two legs of the crown and is favored to win the Belmont this Saturday.

Horse racing enthusiasts say that what sets Big Brown apart is his unmatched "second gear," a burst of energy the horse exhibits to power ahead in a race's final leg.

Big Brown has dominated his two previous races, easily claiming victory in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

"It's amazing … It's a lot of power and a lot of weight. You never get over that 'look' in a horse's eye," said Karyn Malinowski, the director of Rutgers University's Equine Science Center.

At the center, researchers are studying the physiology of race horses. Part of their testing includes measuring the vital signs of horses galloping on a treadmill. A single horse can move at roughly 30 miles an hour, with 240 heartbeats per minutes.

Researchers have discovered that these massive athletes have a secret weapon: their spleens. As a horse runs, its spleen contracts, releasing fresh red blood cells full of oxygen. During a race, a horse like Big Brown has twice the amount of oxygen in his blood than an Olympic sprinter would have.

But experts can't explain Big Brown's "second gear," saying it is horse psychology, rather than physiology. Like human athletes, it seems horses use their mental "drive" to finish races.

"It's what's upstairs, the will and the determination to just want to win," said Malinowski, "They never lose that desire to race."

Bad Draw Out of Gates?

Some are worried that the position that Big Brown drew for the start of the race, which puts him next to the rail, could potentially leave him boxed in by the other horses and prevent him from releasing his natural burst of speed near the finish line.

"They were hoping for the outside position, like he had in the Kentucky Derby, to avoid being trapped," said ESPN's Janine Edwards. "In the Preakness, he did have a moment down the back stretch where he could have gotten pinned in, but … he found that gear and was able to get out of … the horses being trapped."

Crack Causes Concern

Also causing concern is a crack in Big Brown's left hoof. It has been laced together with wire sutures and will have an acrylic seal put over it on Friday afternoon, according to Edwards.

"You just don't want a horse coming into a race of this magnitude without being 100 percent physically in every way," said Edwards. "Having wire sutures in your foot and an acrylic patch is, in my opinion, not 100 percent."

But Big Brown doesn't seem to be bothered by the crack, according to Edwards.

"I watched him train. He's not in pain," said Edwards, "[This is] not something that could cause a permanent injury, nothing that could cause catastrophic injury."

Bets have placed Big Brown at favorable two-to-five odds, according to the Associated Press. But Big Brown will face competition from another horse with a winning pedigree, Casino Drive.

Casino Drive's siblings have won the last two Belmont Stakes. But the odds of Casino Drive becoming the third straight Belmont winner from the same mare are as low as 43 trillion to one, according to the New York Times.

"Big Brown doesn't have that same type of pedigree, but he's got that tangible … will to keep running, when the other athletes give up," said Edwards.

Back at Rutgers University, Malinowski replayed the Preakness Stakes, her eyes following Big Brown as he broke away from the pack and raced for the finish line.

"He starts to pin his ears back, getting into that zone," she pointed out. "Look at his tail, waving like an American flag. Bye, bye baby — he's blowing them away."