Trainer Rick Dutrow watched from the rail as Big Brown walked a lap around the track with exercise rider Michele Nevin. Dutrow said the 3-year-old colt has shown no ill effects from the Derby, in which Big Brown became the first horse in nearly 80 years to win from the No. 20 post.
"He's come back good, he's eating everything we give him," Dutrow said. "That's all you're looking for."
Big Brown will spend the next week galloping each morning before shipping to Pimlico for the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Dutrow said he's considering putting his colt through a "minor" workout before the Preakness much like the three-furlong work he put in on the Thursday before the Derby.
"He's just a good horse and he does things so easy," Dutrow said.
The Preakness field could be less than half the 20-horse traffic jam Big Brown navigated to win the Derby, and Big Brown most likely will be the only Derby horse to head to Pimlico.
That's fine by Dutrow, who is concerned about having his horse come back on two weeks' rest, but is confident he can handle whatever the field throws at him.
"I'd rather be in our spot than a fresh horse coming into the race that doesn't have the talent that ours has got," he said.
