On paper, Big Brown can regress significantly and still dominate Preakness 133 — and it doesn’t take reviewing a racing form for more than 2 minutes to figure that out.

On the other hand, identifying those closest to the big favorite — or even “slay the dragon” as track announcer Vic Stauffer brilliantly called in last week’s turf stake at Hollywood Park — takes a bit more consideration.

Macho Again could very well be the one. He is clearly on the improve, having nearly missed a track record in winning the Derby Trial most recently in which he finished very nicely and galloped out well. The connections have long thought high of him, and that he wants more ground. He should be a big price on Saturday in an attempt to prove them right.

Tres Borrachos will love the distance, but just doesn’t appear fast enough to negotiate the 1 3/16 miles in competitive time.

Icabad Crane is a New York-bred who likewise looks too slow. He may take significant money given a win over this strip and the presence of Jeremy Rose (remember Afleet Alex?).

Yankee Bravo ran well enough in his only previous dirt try, although I wonder if he wants to go this far.

Behindatthebar loves synthetic tracks, and finished like a monster in the Lexington. Whether he can translate that action to dirt remains to be seen.

Racecar Rhapsody is an interesting sort — especially given the connections. Primed for a big effort in his third start of the year, but tends to leave himself with an awful lot to do. Will be used in the bottom part of exotics.

Kentucky Bear trained like a bear according to Mike Welsch of DRF prior to the Derby, and while he has yet to produce an effort in the afternoon that suggests he can challenge, vast improvement isn’t out of the question.

Stevil appears badly overmatched and too slow, and enters this race much the way Zito’s Hemingway’s Key did a few years ago. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice… no thanks.

Riley Tucker hasn’t visited the winner’s circle since his career debut. ‘Nuff said.

Giant Moon has run just one poor race, and can’t blame his connections for taking a shot for a minor award here. Still, he falls just shy of making my tickets.

Gayego is the only other Derby runner to come back besides Big Brown. Although the second choice in the morning-line, imagine his odds may drift up as post time Saturday looms. Trainer Paulo Lobo is a superior horseman, so if he believes shipping back cross-country for this is the right thing to do, I wouldn’t discount his chances of running well as he should be forwardly placed throughout.

Hey Byrn will be making his first start outside of Florida, and thought he worked way too hard in winning the Holy Bull at odds-on.