Trainer Says He Hasn't Given Big Brown Steroids Since April

With Big Brown an overwhelming favorite to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday and become the first horse in 30 years to win the Triple Crown, his trainer is attempting to distance himself from his long-held practice of giving the horse steroids.

That trainer, Rick Dutrow, tells Joe Drape of the New York Times that he hasn't given Big Brown the anabolic steroid Winstrol since April 15. It is legal to give horses steroids in most states, including all three of the Triple Crown states. Winstrol is banned for human use; it is the drug that Ben Johnson tested positive for at the 1988 Olympics.

Michael Iavarone, a co-owner of Big Brown, explains the decision to stop giving him steroids:

"But Rick has said, and we have believed all along, that Big Brown is phenomenally talented and has not needed any performance-enhancing drugs."

That doesn't make a lot of sense; the whole point is we don't know how much his "phenomenal talent" has been enhanced by drugs. If Big Brown wins the Triple Crown he will have done so aided by steroids, and his owners and trainer shouldn't pretend otherwise.