Punto Blanco

Another loyal reader (have I ever mentioned how very much I adore loyal readers?) sent me a link to the SI.com story about Big Brown's other name--proof of the power of omens and superstitions along the backside, and proof once again that Dutrow should not be so quick to tempt the Racing Gods with his pronouncements that the Belmont is a forgone conclusion.

But then, perhaps it is?

According to the piece by Tim Laydon, Big Brown's "other name," the one he was called by the grooms who raised him at Monticule Farm in central Kentucky, is "Punto Blanco," Spanish for white dot. Big Brown was born with a quarter sized white dot at the top of his left front leg, near his rib cage. It is an unusual characteristic for a horse of his markings and has led to much speculation about him being "marked" for greatness.

His original owner Eddie Woods, who purchased Big Brown as a yearling for $60,000, calls it his " x factor," the thing that separates him from other horses. "That's his thing: a brilliant white spot in a very obscure place," he says. "You believe that the spot was placed there by the hand of God."

His second owner, Paul Pompa, sent Big Brown to his trainer, Patrick Reynolds, who also noted the spot and the advice he received from the late European breeder, Frederick Tesio. "He said the truly great horses have some freakish characteristic, and here was this marking. I'm thinking, 'Wouldn't it be something if that proved true?'" he wonders.

As Leydon notes so eloquently: "The racetrack is a place where hard men will sometimes give themselves over to romance and superstition...It is a place where otherwise pragmatic people will look at a white spot and see greatness explained."

Call it what you will: a freckle, a lack of pigment or an unusual marking, but the important thing, as far as track superstitions go, is to note its existence.

And realize that if, in fact, Big Brown's destiny is all but signed, sealed and delivered because of his "x factor," it does not matter who owns or trains him.