Did Barry Bonds win the Kentucky Derby? Big Brown's trainer with checkered past.

Big Brown.  Barry Bonds.  BB...hmmmmmm.  More like Ben Johnson (Big Brown's trainer says he administers Winstrol to his horses)

Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby yesterday, in an amazing performance of strength and power.  Like Brady Anderson hitting 50 home runs...to fuel more controversy on steroids in horse racing.

In fact, Big Brown's trainer is not without suspicion of doping.  From Paul Moran's blog:

There will be no on-the-record statements of uneasiness from racing’s leaders, but there is an undercurrent of speculation concerning what might follow a victory in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday by the currently in vogue colt widely seen as a potential superstar.

Along with discussion of a potential Triple Crown, a victory by Big Brown would trigger examination of the role played by steroids in racing, medication, legal and illegal. It is impossible to ignore these issues in regard to any horse trained by Richard Dutrow Jr.

Big Brown as Barry Bonds?  Perhaps not so far fetched considering his trainer's history:

Consider the torrent of scrutiny, innuendo and conjecture that would follow a victory by Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby.

Think four-legged Barry Bonds.

The fact is this: Dutrow’s checkered past is accompanied by an unsavory reputation widely shared by the core of racing fans and horseplayers, who view both him and his success in the dim light of suspicion.

And also this: Dutrow has, in a short period of time, risen from virtual obscurity to build one of the nation’s most powerful stables, one that has produced a Horse of the Year, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner St. Liam, winners of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Mile, two races on the Dubai World Cup supporting card and three New York training titles.

But Dutrow has never had a Derby horse until now. He is about to discover that while his past successes have been chronicled for the most part in the trade and niche media, success in the Kentucky Derby brings the world to your doorstep and the subject of is past transgressions will be high on the list of pre-Preakness storylines.

If perception is indeed reality, his critics view Dutrow’s success as evidence of more than misplaced distrust...

Dutrow's history of horse doping:

Last Thursday, Dutrow returned from a seven-day suspension for an overage of phenylbutazone, a painkiller, found in a post-race sample taken from Privy Seal, who finished fourth in the fourth race at Belmont Park on Oct. 15, 2006....

Dutrow received a 45-day suspension and $3,000 fine for a positive test of the prohibited drug Mepivacaine, found in Farmer Jake after a third-place finish in the sixth race on April 27, 2003, at Aqueduct.

Dutrow received a $2,000 fine and 15-day suspension for a positive test of the prohibited drug clenbuterol, found in Starship Smokester after a win in the second race at Aqueduct on January 11, 2004.

Bbute, Clen, and what next...steroids?  Yes:

The perception is that at best Dutrow plays the game on the fringe, that he is one of those whose methods of training revolve around staying a step ahead of the authorities, but his own success now places him in the harsh light of public scrutiny on the game’s biggest stage. A victory in the Kentucky Derby, which Dutrow last week dismissed as just another horserace, would bring new attention to the last thing the Triple Crown needs – examination of one of racing’s most notorious and controversial figures and the most sensitive issues – steroids, medication and the use of prohibited drugs -- by those who would otherwise ignore these issues.

Let's see where this goes...