Love him or hate him, Big Brown is still the one to beat in the Kentucky Derby from post 20 but who wants a favorite for bragging rights against 19 other horses?

Nobody, that's who so let's paint a scenario, where Big Brown will be out of the money and maybe we can all get paid.

You get the feeling that Big Brown will either win the Derby for fun or be a major disappointment.

Take nothing away from the Richard Dutrow Jr. student, he has been sensational in his three starts, overcame post 12 winning the Florida Derby and no horse at the entire Gulfstream meet had come close to winning from such a marooned post. Brown also has proven he doesn't absolutely need the lead to win but that was against allowance horses.

To fully evaluate whom Big Brown has been beating, astute horse bettors can look to what his rivals did after completing the trifecta against BB.

In his debut, Doctor Cal ran second to BB. Three races later Doctor Cal graduated, but by only a neck with a 79 Beyer at Gulfstream, then Cal was man handled in allowance company getting beat by over 8 lengths.

Wotan ran third to BB in the debut, and then was second beat just over a length in his next and final start.

In BB's first win vs. winners, Heaven's Awesome completed the exacta but then returned to run 8th at Tampa.

The third place finisher Deputiformer has not raced back.

In the Florida Derby, Smooth Air, who is by a sire that commands only a $3,500 stud fee ran second and has not raced back while the show horse in the Fla. Derby, Tomcito, has never won in the United States and returned to run 6th in the Lexington at Keeneland.

Granted, brilliance is brilliance and it's possible Big Brown is just a freak, but Curlin came to the Derby last year unbeaten after three races and he couldn't cash.

The last Derby winner that was so green was Regret in 1915 and only 2 horses in the last 6 decades, Sunny's Halo and Street Sense last year, were able to win the Derby after just 2 preps.

Okay, wise guy, so who's left? Second choice Colonel John has never run a bad race, but there is a question if he is fast enough and he has been on the synthetic his entire career although he's by double BC Classic winner Tiznow.

Third choice Pyro looked like a gut a few weeks back to be a monster but his Blue Grass flop was alarming.

The next few betting choice could go any which way with Gayego, the Arkansas Derby winner, Monba, the Blue Grass hero or maybe even Adriano, the Lanes End winner gaining that 4th slot.

No hindsight about the pick for the Derby, he's Court Vision. He's won at Churchill going away like a runner that will thrive at the trip. He just posted a tie for his best Beyer with a third in the Wood and he looks like a horse that is still maturing.

His agent, Ron Anderson, had a call on Colonel John, but went to Vision instead. And his trainer, Bill Mott, never works his horses fast yet this guy posted a best of 25 drill on April 17 after adding blinkers.

EnVision, the son of Gulch nailing the speed in the final hundred yards. In the gimmicks, think about Pyro, Z Fortune, Denis of Cork, Adriano and Visionaire.

Good luck.