Newhouse News Service

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

WARREN, N.J. — "Who are you, Dr. Phil?''

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.

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