Rick Dutrow Jr. says he's putting Big Brown (rear) back on steroids this weekend despite claiming not using them had no effect on his horse's awful performance at the Belmont Stakes. (Ed Reinke/Associated Press)

Big Brown is going back on the juice.

Just days after an attempt to become the first horse in 30 years to win American racing's Triple Crown ended in disappointment and confusion, the colt's controversial trainer says he will give him a steroid shot this weekend.

Rick Dutrow Jr., who made much of his decision to discontinue the use of the steroid Winstrol after a shot in mid-April, told the New York Times he would go back on the regime even though the trainer doesn't believe it makes any difference.

"He doesn't need any drugs; the Winstrol had nothing to do with it," Dutrow said about Big Brown's strange ride in last Saturday's Belmont Stakes, where jockey Kent Desormeaux pulled the three-year-old up well before the line as Da' Tara went on to victory.

"I've never had a vet look at this horse," the trainer told the Times.

Steroid use is legal in 28 of 38 U.S. states that have horse racing but there is a move by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the group that oversees the sport, to ban steroids from all sites by next year.

Meanwhile, ESPN reported Dutrow and Desormeaux are back on the same page after the outspoken trainer criticized the experienced jockey's race strategy on Monday and Tuesday.

"I'm sure [Big Brown] didn't have any idea what the hell was going on going into the first turn the way [Desormeaux] was switching him all over the damn track," Dutrow told reporters at the beginning of the week.

"I don't know what he was doing."

But by Wednesday, Dutrow, who offended many racing purists by guaranteeing Big Brown would win the Triple Crown after taking the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, was more conciliatory.

"I just feel better because he came by to talk about [the Belmont ride]," he said.

Big Brown is expected to resume training next week on the way to an appearance in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23, and then the Breeder's Cup Classic in October.

There, he'll likely run into Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year.