Big Brown is free of steroids
Big Brown will not run on steroids Saturday in the Belmont Stakes, trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said.
Dutrow created a stir before the Preakness when he said all the horses in his stable, including Big Brown, received a monthly shot of Winstrol.
On Thursday, Dutrow said Big Brown will not get another treatment before his bid to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.
“It’s just too much for three races in five weeks,” Dutrow said. “He’s doing absolutely fabulous.”
In fact, Dutrow said Big Brown had not received the anabolic steroid since April 15, when he was stabled in Florida.
“The horse had been doing so good, and is doing so good, I don’t want to screw things up,” Dutrow said. “I haven’t changed any routine.”
Dutrow said that he usually gave his horses an injection of Winstrol — which is legal in 28 of the 38 states where horse racing is held, including the three states holding Triple Crown races — on the 15th of each month. He said he did not give his horses steroids when they were not in training.
Winstrol, an anabolic steroid known to increase appetite and weight, is legal in New York. Winstrol is the same steroid for which Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when he was stripped of his gold medal. More recently, Roger Clemens’ former trainer, Brian McNamee, said he injected the pitcher with Winstrol in 1998.
