I have witnessed great horses that have tried and failed to become the next Triple Crown winner; horses like Smarty Jones, Funny Side, Charismatic, Real Quiet and Silver Charm.

With each of these horses there was always a general sense of excitement going into the Belmont and a general hope that they would become the 12th Triple Crown winner. Those horses were good; they were challenged and they were surrounded by great connections. This year that excitement is generally lacking; many people harbor a deep buried hope for Big Brown to fail. That hope is based on many factors that have affected Big Brown’s popularity:

Eight Bells’s Breakdown: The fact that Eight Bells became the first horse ever to break down at the Kentucky Derby drew most of the media and public attention away from Big Brown and his victory and turned it against the sport itself.

His Trainer: He is trained by Richard Dutrow Jr., a confessed drug and gambling addict with a long history of suspensions and drug infractions that has only served to cast a deep shadow of doubt over Big Brown’s accomplishments.

The Weak Opposition: He has faced a very mediocre group of three year-olds – which has many doubting whether he deserves to earn a title that has eluded so many great horses that met better foes.

In fact, the group that he has faced is so bad that only one of his rivals has managed to run a triple digit Beyer speed figure against him in a Triple Crown race – pathetic! He ran an average Beyer in the Derby of 109 but then he posted the second slowest winning Beyer ever for the Preakness – about 5 lengths slower than the average.

And the group does not seem to be getting any tougher for the Belmont. The only worthwhile addition seems to be Casino Drive, a talented colt without any type of foundation who will be making only his third lifetime start in the grueling mile and a half race – Hardly the recipe for an upset!

His Owners: A new and almost faceless, ambitious, Wall Street type hedge fund who would like to see the sport transformed and have horses become nothing more than a line item in someone’s earnings report.

They would like to have investors, preferably institutional investors, put up tens of millions of dollars into a fund that buys and sells racehorses. The investors would not own or identify with any particular horse but would only be advised of their profits, or most likely their losses.

Under their plan horses would not be owned by people that care about their health and welfare but rather by people whose sole aim it to exploit them for profit. This is a monstrous idea! It takes away any incentive to look out for long term interest of the horse.

His Career Span or Lack Thereof: There is absolutely no chance that Big Brown will run as a four year-old especially considering his ownership group who cares about nothing but dollars and cents.

It is also very unlikely that he will ever meet older foes or even race past the Belmont because the risk of defeat may diminish his value. This horse is headed to retirement as soon as the slightest plausible excuse presents itself (read bruised feet).

His Name: Lets face it when compared to the likes of Secretariat, Citation and Affirmed; Big Brown just has a dumb name.

At the end of the day, Big Brown has nothing going for him other than Big Brown. He is a very good horse and nothing that I have described so far is Big Brown’s fault.

He, as a racehorse, has done nothing wrong on or off the track. He has met every challenge thrown at him, including winning in his first few starts the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby from a difficult outside post while running wide on both turns. He won the Preakness with great ease and was not at all extended at the finish – he did what he needed to do to stay fresh for the Belmont. And come June 7, he most likely will destroy yet another severely overmatched field and be crowned the 12th Triple Crown winner.

The question is how would you feel about that?