Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., who will saddle Big Brown when he bids for the Triple Crown in the June 7 Belmont Stakes, leaned against a bench in the Belmont Park paddock yesterday afternoon, alone and seemingly without a care in the world.

“What do I have to worry about?” he said, laughing off a West Coast-based rumor that Brown had popped a quarter-crack in his foot that sidelined him last winter. “Where does this stuff come from? He goes out, he trains as good as he can train, then comes back and dives into his water bucket, which is exactly what you want to see. He empties his feed tub – he can’t eat enough – and chews on his hayrack all day. It’s all good.”