Don't have a cow: Hooters digs Big Brown

NEW YORK (AP) -- Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined.
It's not just the slogan of Hooters. It might well describe the sponsorship deal in which
Big Brown's jockey will wear the restaurant chain's logo when the horse goes for the
Triple Crown in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.
Hooters joined UPS as a sponsor of Big Brown, owners IEAH Stables and jockey Kent Desormeaux on Wednesday. Its logo, an owl whose eyes are seen in the word Hooters, will be stitched into the side of Desormeaux's pants.
A UPS logo also will be visible, as it was when Desormeaux guided Big Brown to victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. The horse was named in honor of UPS, a client of original owner Paul Pompa Jr.'s trucking business.
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr was amused when a bevy of Hooters
girls in tank tops and tight orange shorts appeared at Belmont's Barn 2 for a photo
shoot with Big Brown and Desormeaux on Wednesday.
"I'll tell you, this horse is so cool," Dutrow said Thursday. "There are these five girls lined up looking away and he walked right up and put his head in between all of them. He didn't move his head. Every time I see this horse do something, he absolutely amazes me."
IEAH Stables co-president Michael Iavarone said others may look at the sponsorship "oddly," but added: "I think that you can cross the line a little bit. The regulatory side of racing will start to be a little more stringent. I can't say I have a problem with Hooters."
When the deal was first reported, Hooters' vice president of marketing Mike McNeil was quoted as saying Hooters girls and company executives would be in the winner's circle if Big Brown wins.
"That's not going to happen," Kelly Wietsma, the president of Equisponse, which represents IEAH Stables, said Thursday.