The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Big Brown will be fine, says vet

Big Brown nibbles on the reins as Michelle Nevin holds him during his bath after a light jog around the track yesterday at Belmont Park. Big Brown will attempt to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 30 years when he runs in the Belmont Stakes tomorrow. - AP

NEW YORK (AP)

There is nothing ailing Big Brown that a good pedicure won't fix. Think of that crack in his left front hoof as the equivalent of a hangnail for a human.

"It's a little confusing for people who don't understand it, but it is a very common situation," said Dr. Rick Arthur, a veterinarian and equine medical director to the California Horse Racing Board. "We deal with it on a daily basis."

Several veterinarians said racing in tomorrow's gruelling 11/2-mile Belmont Stakes - with the U.S. Triple Crown on the line- shouldn't pose an additional risk to the strapping bay colt.

Innocuous injury

They characterised the quarter crack as an innocuous injury, and the minor irritation it causes as an occupational hazard of heavy training.

"It's all healed," trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said yesterday. "We could run him the way he is."

Not exactly. Today hoof specialist Ian McKinlay will apply an acrylic and fibreglass patch to the cracked area. It sets in five minutes and is "stronger than the hoof itself," he said.

That's certainly encouraging news for a sport still on edge after the death of Eight Belles on the track moments after her second-place finish at the Kentucky Derby.

Even Dutrow's normally unshakeable confidence was dented when he first saw the crack.

"Naturally, we had to worry about it," he said.

Big Brown has had far more serious front-foot issues. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner suffered an abscess in the sole of his left front foot that caused a wall separation late last year. He was out for 45 days.

Casino Drive is washed and groomed after a workout yesterday at Belmont Park. Casino Drive is considered to be Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown's strongest opponent in tomorrow's Belmont Stakes. Big Brown is the 2-5 ante post favourite while, Casino Drive is listed at 7-2.