Big Brown has a quarter crack, which is a split in the wall of a hoof. Trainer Rick Dutrow announced yesterday morning at Belmont Park that the Big Brown had not trained since Friday because of a condition foot specialist Ian McKinlay termed “very minor.”

The photo is from horseracingbettingtip.com. This is what a quarter crack looks like; similar to the injury to Big Brown’s front left hoof.

Dutrow and McKinlay expressed optimism that the ailment could be cleared up within a few days, and in the “best-case scenario” Big Brown could return to the track “Wednesday or Thursday.”

Dutrow expressed confidence that his superstar would recover quickly and be at full strength for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes on June 7. “It sucks that it happened, but it’s good that it happened now,” he said. “He’s like a little kid who’s always coming up with something. He’s going to get his breeze and he’ll make the race.”

When asked about the worst-case scenario, Dutrow said, “The horse is not in pain, and if he misses the race, it won’t bother him. It would bother the human beings, but he wouldn’t know he missed the race.”

“He’s been as aggressive as I’ve seen him,” Dutrow said of the colt, who will try to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.