As he heads for his date with history at Belmont Park on Saturday, 3-year-old Triple Crown contender Big Brown will have the help of Irish assistant trainer Michelle Nevin, writes APRIL DREW.AN Irish woman will play a key role in whether the first horse racing Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 is crowned on Saturday in Belmont Park. Michelle Nevin will be among an expected crowd of over 120,000 who will show up at the Long Island venue to see if Big Brown can defy the odds and win the 1 1/2 mile Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the storied Triple Crown.As exercise rider and head assistant trainer to Big Brown's trainer Rick Dutrow, Nevin, 30, has been in the saddle every morning when Big Brown jogs and works and has stayed with the horse all day as his date with history looms.Nevin said her relationship with Big Brown began in November. "I first met Big Brown when he was shipped down from Aqueduct to Palm Meadows training center in South Florida," she told the Irish Voice last week during an interview.The pair were a perfect match. Nevin was impressed by the colt's gentle personality yet fierce will to win on the track.Early on Big Brown gained respect for Nevin, preferring her above all others to handle him. Now with an estimated stud value of $50 million and a Triple Crown victory on the horizon, she is handling some expensive horse flesh.It doesn't seem to phase the Tipperary native Nevin. She says the 3-year-old is one of the most relaxed horses she has ever worked with. "Big Brown just doesn't care too much about anything. He is kind to kids and people in general," she said, adding that horses are just like people. "Every one of them have a different personality."Nevin took 20 minutes from her time with Big Brown on Thursday, May 29 to speak to the Irish Voice. Outside the barn press from around the world have kept watch all week on the latest superstar to hit the headlines.However, Big Brown is attempting something no horse has done in 30 years -- a feat that some say will never be repeated again because modern horses are bred too much for speed, do not race enough and are much more fragile than past Triple Crown winners.Nevin knows that there are many skeptics, as well as several other horses in the race, including the intriguing Japanese challenger Casino Drive who is a half brother to last year's winner Rags to Riches.Rags to Riches might be a good name for the story of Rick Dutrow, trainer of Big Brown and a former boyfriend of Nevin. He was so down on his luck that he lived in the stables at the racetrack before overcoming drug and drink problems a few years back. Now he is one of the top trainers in America.Saturday is the culmination of all the hard work for Nevin and the 5 a.m. rides around the Big Sandy as Belmont Park is known. From the sidelines, Nevin will watch in anticipation as "Brownie" (her nickname for Big Brown) tries to do what Smarty Jones failed to do in 2004, cross the mile and a half finish line in first place at the Belmont Stakes to claim the Triple Crown.Working with horses is part of Nevin's DNA. Her father Michael and grandfather Richard were horse trainers. Michael was once a jockey. Seeking to follow in the footsteps of her father, Nevin wanted to ride horses professionally."When I was young I knew I wanted to be a jockey, but what I didn't realize is I was going to grow," she laughs. Nevin, who now measures somewhere between 5'6" and 5'7," said that being an exercise rider is the next best thing. "I love working with horses and always have," she said.Nevin realized early in life that if she wanted a serious career in the horse business she needed to leave Ireland. "There isn't any money in riding in Ireland," she said, "plus it's cold and always raining." Just out of high school, Nevin came to New York and teamed up with fellow Irish immigrant and horse trainer Leo O'Brien, who now lives in Long Island. When she felt it was time to go out on her own, Nevin became a freelance exercise rider and traveled the country, and even did a stint in Dubai, before she began working with Dutrow.Nevin, who hails from Fethard, Co. Tipperary, about eight miles outside Clonmel, became accustomed to winning at an early age. During her teenage years in Ireland, the blonde horsewoman exercised Rough Quest, who in 1996 won the world's greatest steeplechase, the Grand National in Aintree, England. March of this year was a particularly exciting month for Nevin, who is Dutrow's chief assistant in his 100 horse stable. She had two winners on the same day in Dubai where Dutrow sent her because he stayed in Florida to watch Big Brown win the Florida Derby.Diamond Stripes won the $1 million Godolphin Mile and Benny the Bull won the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Nad al Sheba. About the same time Benny the Bull was crossing the finish line in Dubai, Dutrow was prepping Big Brown to race in the Florida Derby. Could Dutrow have three big winners in the space of a few hours and thousands of miles apart? Yes, he certainly could. Big Brown won the $1 million derby. "It was one of the craziest days ever," remembers Nevin with a smile.Upon returning from Dubai, Dutrow knew Nevin was the right person to work with Big Brown in preparation for the Kentucky Derby. And sure enough, Nevin had a helping hand in Big Brown's victory not only in Kentucky but following on from that in the Preakness, the second jewel in the Triple Crown. She is hoping to have the same sort of luck this Saturday. Big Brown annihilated the field in both the Derby and Preakness and will start as a very low priced favorite on Saturday. However, the history of Triple Crown seekers in recent times has been one of so near and yet to far. Real Quiet, Alysheba, Smarty Jones, Silver Charm, Funny Cide, Charismatic and War Emblem have all come to the Belmont with the Triple Crown at their mercy and failed. Can Big Brown be different?Nevin certainly thinks so. She has a deep confidence in Brownie and his ability to accelerate away from any 3-year-old in the land.She seems remarkably composed as post time looms. Nevin, whose mom Chris and dad Michael now live in Kentucky, said that although the Belmont Stakes is only days away, she has it pretty easy."I only have to deal with Brownie at the moment so I stay with him all morning, ride him for an hour or so and then spend the day with him," she said. Speaking about Big Brown's recent quarter crack injury (a split in the wall of a hoof), she said that although he was laying low for a few days, he didn't lose any fitness and will be in top shape for Saturday. Nevin, who said she will be "swinging off a chandelier" if Brownie wins the Triple Crown, admits she has had some great wins while working with Dutrow."Some of the highlights were 2005 Horse of the Year, Saint Liam and Breeders' Cup winners Siler Train and Kip Deville," she said.Her gentle, feminine touch with the horses has obviously paid off, but it has been her work with Big Brown that she will be most remembered for.Big Brown, who is co-owned by IEAH stables (75%) and Paul Pompa (25%), currently resides in Belmont. Although most of the horses Dutrow and Nevin work with are housed in Aqueduct, Big Brown was given a room and board in stable number eight, barn two in Belmont for the few weeks leading up to the Stakes. "We brought him here so he could become familiar with where he will be running," explains Nevin. Asked what all the media attention is like surrounding the hype of Big Brown's possible Triple Crown win, she said, "It's almost like you don't even realize it's happening. We are just going to work every day and a lot of people show up to see the horse."And lots of people are expected to show up at Belmont this Saturday to see if Nevin's pride and joy, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, will become the first horse in 30 years to win the Triple Crown. Nevin and trainer Dutrow believe you can bet on it.