updated 2:59 p.m. ET May 22, 2008

NEW YORK - Big Brown's trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. delivered some provocative words Wednesday, two and a half weeks before his horse will try to become the first since Affirmed in 1978 to win horse racing's Triple Crown.

Of vaunted challenger Casino Drive of Japan, Dutrow said, according to ESPN. "He's got no chance of beating our horse. I'll be in the winner's circle when they get to the quarter pole. That's how I feel. I don't see that this horse can beat him."

Dutrow Jr. also had harsh words for jockey Edgar Prado, who often rides for him but was aboard a competitor during the Preakness.

Asked on Wednesday to elaborate on comments made after Big Brown’s win Saturday, Dutrow suggested that Prado, on long shot Riley Tucker, needlessly tried to block Big Brown, who heads into the Belmont Stakes with a shot at the Triple Crown. Prado said he did nothing inappropriate.

“It looked like he was just trying to keep our horse in the box,” Dutrow said. “It didn’t look like he was out to get the best finish out of his horse.”

During the first turn, Big Brown was on the rail with Riley Tucker outside of him. Riley Tucker briefly angled toward Big Brown, but it appeared that was the result of being bumped by Hey Byrn.

“I got paid to win the race, not to pay favors,” Prado said in a phone interview between races at Belmont Park.

Prado, a Hall of Fame jockey, was set to ride Big Brown in the horse’s career debut in September but was injured two races beforehand. Big Brown’s owners later chose Kent Desormeaux over Prado for his 3-year-old season.

“Edgar being with us so much, it looks like he did something just to keep our horse in behind the other horse,” Dutrow said. “He had to go way out of his way to do it. So we’re not real happy about that, either.”

Big Brown eventually passed Riley Tucker, who wound up finishing last.

Prado might ride the horse considered Big Brown’s greatest challenge in the Belmont on June 7, Casino Drive. Casino Drive’s jockey has yet to be named.

Possible matchup with Curlin?
Dutrow also says he has plans for Big Brown beyond the Belmont Stakes, even though there is speculation the unbeaten colt will be retired following his attempt to become the first Triple Crown champion in 30 years.

“No one told me that,” Dutrow said when Big Brown first arrived at Belmont Park earlier in the week, adding a few days later, “our plan is the Belmont, Travers and Breeders’ Cup. We are going to show up if our horse is good and ready.”

Dutrow has been consistent in his comments since Big Brown won the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, a day in which majority owners IEAH Stables sold breeding rights to Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky for reportedly more than $50 million.

Before Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby, IEAH co-president Michael Iavarone said Big Brown would not run next year as a 4-year-old.

Video   'He's that good' Jockey, owner, trainer are all raving about Big Brown as he arrives at Belmont Stakes. NBC Sports

That prompted talk that the Belmont in just more than two weeks would likely be Big Brown’s final race, win or lose. While IEAH has yet to confirm Big Brown’s post-Belmont plans, Dutrow clearly wants to keep the colt in training. First, for the Travers on Aug. 23 at Saratoga, and then a grand farewell in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

The Classic could match Big Brown against 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, who won the Preakness and Classic last year and the $6 million Dubai World Cup this year.

“We’ll show up for the last one if our horse is good and if he’s ready,” Dutrow said, referring to the Breeders’ Cup. “I would like them to run against each other. It would be good for racing, and it would be good for us. It wouldn’t be so good for (Curlin).”

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