COMMENTARY: Big Brown has plenty to prove

BALTIMORE - Thoroughbred racing always is hungry for a new hero. And the sport particularly is desperate for a hero after the death of the filly Eight Belles tarnished the Kentucky Derby and produced a torrent of bad publicity. So it was understandable that Big Brown's victory in the Preakness would be greeted with elation and lavish superlatives.

"In 27 years of riding, I never saw a horse accelerate like this one," said Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey who now is an NBC commentator.

"This is the horse of a lifetime, said Kent Desormeaux, who rode the winner.

Amid all this excitement, combined with the general relief that nothing catastrophic happened all day at Pimlico, only a spoilsport would point out that Big Brown's ridiculously easy victory didn't tell us whether he is a great horse - or just the dominant member of a weak thoroughbred crop.

Rarely does a horse and rider win any kind of race - let alone a major stakes - with such obvious disdain for the competition. After Desormeaux put Big Brown into perfect stalking position behind two pacesetters, he was totally confident he could take command of the Preakness at will. He kept his mount under iron restraint, looking under his shoulder, looking to his side to see if anybody was mounting a challenge. Nobody was. Turning into the stretch, Desormeaux urged Big Brown - without using the whip- for about a dozen strides, and left his 11 rivals far in his wake.

With the race under control, he said, "I just stopped riding." As Desormeaux forcefully applied the brakes to Big Brown, he was thinking three weeks aheadto the Belmont Stakes. He wanted to keep some energy in the tank before Big Brown attempts to become the first winner of the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

Big Brown's performance once again gave the impression that his potential is limitless, but Big Brown has not yet faced rivals who can challenge him. Big Brown's competition in the 133rd Preakness was so weak that bettors made Gayego the second choice in the wagering, even though he had lost the Derby by 36 3/4 lengths.

In his five-race career, Big Brown still has not beaten a horse of real quality, nor has he been fast enough to prove he is a horse for the ages. His Preakness time of 1 minute 54.8 seconds on a lightning-fast Pimlico track was undistinguished, thanks to Desormeaux' restraint.

It's not Big Brown's fault that he was born into a sub-par thoroughbred generation. If he wins the Belmont Staskes, a definitive test for Big Brown would come when he faces older horses in the fall. If he runs against Curlin, the 2007 Preakness winner and horse of the year, nobody will ever again question the quality of his opposition.

Because Big Brown lives in an era when the top thoroughbred stallions are extraordinarily valuable, he will have limited opportunities to show his stuff. On Saturday his majority owner, the IEAH Stable, sealed a $50 million deal to send Big Brown to Three Chimneys Farm for stud duty next year.

People who understand the economics of the game would not bet that they ever will see a Big Brown vs. Curlin confrontation. It is possible that Big Brown could leave the sport before anyone knows how good he might be.