Paul Pompa Jr. on Big Brown's victory: 'Winning the Kentucky Derby was cool ... but I think I got as much enjoyment seeing what it meant to my family and friends.' (Photo by Frank H. Conlon)

c.2008 Newhouse News Service

Paul Pompa Jr. laughs as he says it, but the message, however good-natured, is delivered: Don't dig too deeply with the questions.

An owner of Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby winner and heavy favorite in Saturday's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Pompa is a reluctant interviewee. He controls 25 percent of the horse, and with the remaining shares belonging to IEAH, a faceless syndicate, Pompa begrudgingly has become the two-legged story of the Triple Crown.