ELMONT, N.Y. - Big Brown had an acrylic patch, to protect a quarter crack, put on the inside of his left front hoof shortly after noon Friday at Belmont Park by foot specialist Ian McKinlay, who said the procedure "was very routine."

Big Brown, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, is to attempt a sweep of the Triple Crown on Saturday in the Belmont Stakes. He developed the quarter crack after his victory three weeks ago in the Preakness.

McKinlay said the procedure took about a half-hour.

Two graded races scheduled for the Belmont Stakes undercard, the Woody Stephens Stakes and the Manhattan Handicap, might not be broadcast live on ESPN or ABC despite seven hours of live coverage on Saturday at the track, a spokesman for the networks said on Thursday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - When Big Brown breaks from the gate in the 140th Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park, he will begin the longest and most demanding race he will ever be in. And if Big Brown is successful in adding the 1 1/2-mile Belmont to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, he will become the 12th Triple Crown winner, and the first in 30 years. No matter what, though, this Belmont will bring to a close a Triple Crown campaign that has been punctuated by glorious wins, crushing losses, and no small amount of controversy, both on and off the track.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Big Brown's victory in the Kentucky Derby was little more than an hour old when the connections were feted by Kentucky's governor in the Derby Museum. Among those at the celebration was Vicki Dutrow, the 68-year-old mother of trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.

"You know we're going to win the Triple Crown," Vicki said to a small group of reporters.

When told what his mother said, Dutrow said, "Make sure you write that she said that, not me."