horse racing

Big Brown is favored to win the Belmont Stakes tomorrow and thereby become the first horse in 30 years to capture the Triple Crown.

Big Brown has secured the endorsements of everyone from Hooter's to UPS. He just can't seem to get anyone else to like him. Capturing the public imagination involves a delicate alchemy for any athlete, human or equine, but Big Brown has failed where predecessors like Barbaro succeeded for reasons both competitive and commercial. It's not just that his rivals in the two previous legs of the circuit have looked like a pack of stray dogs, or that he prevailed each time with only marginal speed. He's also backed by a rogue's gallery of cheats and crooked moneymen who have alienated casual fans and racing professionals alike -- no easy feat in a sport dependent on cheats and crooked moneymen for its vitality.