Hail to the king and the phenom

Four hours after Curlin emphatically reaffirmed his position as king of the four-legged world, Big Brown supplanted Pyro as the Kentucky Derby favorite. Curlin's 7 3/4-length runaway in the $6-million Dubai World Cup was expected; a loss, or even a tight win, would have been surprising. Yet even though Big Brown was heavily favored, his five-length romp in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park sent reverberations throughout Derby Nation. Horses making their third career start aren't supposed to win a Grade I race by five lengths from way out in post 12 in a very fast 1:48.16.

"He's a major talent, possibly the best horse I've ever ridden," two-time Derby winner Kent Desormeaux said. "I'd have to say he's my Derby horse."

Big Brown capped a career day for trainer Rick Dutrow, who watched on TV from Florida as two of his horses won nine-figure stakes in Dubai. Sprinter Benny the Bull won the $2-million Golden Shaheen after Diamond Stripes took the $1-million Godolphin Mile. Big Brown's $600,000 payday boosted Dutrow's 10-percent winner's shares for the day to $240,000, but all he could do was rave about his 3-year-old star.

"I loved it," Dutrow said. "I knew the horses in this race couldn't catch him."

The undefeated Big Brown's career margin is 29 lengths, yet he'll have many doubters entering the May 3 Derby. He's not expected to run again until the first Saturday in May, and his lack of experience offers much grist for skeptics. Of the 17 horses to make their fourth lifetime start in the Derby, only one (the filly Regret, 1915) won. Even Curlin, with all of his talent, could manage only a distant third last year before taking the Preakness in his fifth start.

Big Brown's pacesetting style is a concern, too. Will he be able to outrun the cheap speed that always seems to show up in the Run for the Roses and not burn out? Or will he disappoint as another need-to-lead type, the 2007 2-year-old champion War Pass, did recently in the Tampa Bay Derby? Let the debates begin in Blogger Universe.