The big horse is back, and sooner than expected.

In a surprisingly quick turnaround, Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown resumed training yesterday morning for the first time since Friday, when a slight problem with his left front hoof cropped up. With a light rain falling, the undefeated Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner stepped onto Belmont Park's main track in Elmont, N.Y., and jogged a mile for exercise rider Michelle Nevin.

"I guess we surprised everybody today," said Holbrook resident Michael Iavarone, the colt's co-owner. "I think the decision to go to the track today was made last night. Big Brown was just getting too aggressive in the barn. He needed to go to the track.

"We weren't concerned about the track today, even with the rain. The track wasn't that bad, and quite frankly, as aggressive as he's been, it was safer for him to be on the track than in the barn."

Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay repaired the small quarter crack in the hoof wall Monday morning. McKinlay said he anticipated Big Brown could return to his usual morning schedule tomorrow, or perhaps Friday. McKinlay expressed optimism that the colt would recover fully from the ailment, which is similar to a person splitting a fingernail down to the cuticle.

"I felt going to the track was not only good for his conditioning but also good for his mind," trainer Rick Dutrow said. "He's been kind of aggravated. He doesn't know why he's not going to the track."

GOLF

TIGER'S REHAB ON COURSE FOR RETURN TO U.S. OPEN

Tiger Woods entered the room with a slight limp and unwavering determination to play the U.S. Open.

"The knee's doing better," said Woods, who had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee April 15. "The rehab is boring. It gets really old riding that bike, man. But everything's on schedule. Just been training and trying to get this thing organized for the Open, and it's right on schedule for that."

Woods spoke yesterday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. The second annual edition of Woods' own PGA Tour event, the AT&T National, returns to Congressional in July.

The U.S. Open will be at Torrey Pines in San Diego, June 12 to 15.

HAWAI'I'S WIE TO TEE IT UP IN GERMAN OPEN

Hawai'i's Michelle Wie will tee off tomorrow in the Ladies European Tour's German Open at Munich, Germany.

The 18-year-old Punahou alum and Stanford freshman was given a sponsor's invitation to play in the event. A sore wrist and studies at Stanford have limited her to just two tournaments on the LPGA Tour this year.

"I feel a lot healthier and I want to start playing more and playing some good golf," Wie said yesterday. "My goal is just to have fun and keep my head on straight and shoot some low scores."

The 172nd-ranked Wie played the Fields Open in Hawai'i and Michelob ULTRA Open in Virginia two weeks ago.

AND WHAT'S MORE ...

The third-ranked United States, with Kaiser High alum Clay Stanley in the starting lineup, defeated sixth-ranked Argentina, 19-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-20, 15-12, last night in an exhibition volleyball match at Irvine, Calif. ... Utah State quarterback Riley Nelson is transferring to Brigham Young when he returns from a church mission in Spain. Keith Nelson said his son decided to leave his hometown team for BYU, where he will enroll in time for spring practice next year and be eligible to play in 2009. ... Roger Clemens amended his defamation suit against Brian McNamee yesterday, adding a new claim of "intentional infliction of emotional distress." Clemens' attorneys also filed a 39-page response to the motion to dismiss that McNamee's lawyers made on March 4.