Last Saturday's (June 7) Belmont Stakes proved that a mile and a half is a lot harder than what is seen on television. So after 30 years since Affirmed won the last Triple Crown, we'll have to wait another year before another horse can attempt to capture horse racing glory.
Big Brown, the favorite in all three Triple Crown races, stumbled a little out of the gate in Saturday's race, but quickly regained his footing and was near the front of the pack heading in the first turn. Big Brown's loss in the race could be attributed to many things, and the bumping of horses in turn one could have played a factor.
Smartly, Big Brown's jockey,
Kent Desormeaux, brought the horse more to the outside to avoid the congestion. A maneuver questioned by trainer
Rick Dutrow Jr. on June 9.
According to a Monday's Associated Press article, Dutrow didn't know what his jockey was doing going into the first turn.
"I'm sure he 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."
After watching the Belmont and seeing the loss that Big Brown took, finishing ninth out of nine horses, I knew it was just going to be a matter of time before people started to blame the jockey, if it turned out that nothing was wrong with the horse, and since the race on Saturday, Big Brown looks fine.
Dutrow questioning Desormeaux antics are insane, since he wasn't on the horse during the race, and the jockey knows what's best for the horse at the time. Do you really want your horse to be bumping other horses right next to the rail, with no room to escape? I think not.
Desormeaux made the right move, moving Big Brown to the outside, and getting him out of harm's way. If Dutrow wants to question a jockey's authority of the horse in that moment, than he should lay off the Krispy Kreme's and ride his own horse.
With all the commotion in turn one, by the time, the horses reached the fourth furlong, Big Brown, was in third place, with two slower horses in front of him, a place he needed to be to win the race.
But as Dutrow's horse came around turn three, it was clear that something was wrong with the horse, either it had a physical ailment, was exhausted in the 90 degree humidity of the day, or had just nothing left in the tank.
Desormeaux seeing that something was wrong with the horse made again the right decision in pulling up on the horse. Even jockey great
Jerry Bailey agreed, and would have done the same thing if he was riding the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner.
Big Brown finished last, and probably wouldn't have done much else if Desormeaux didn't pull up on him. He might have finished seventh, sixth, or maybe even fifth, still not even in contention for the money. It's more important to save a horse that's won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and is worth seven figures or more, than to possibly injure the horse or have the favorite die on the track.
For that, Dutrow should be grateful.
On Monday, Dutrow said he felt like a loser, and do you know what, he should.
The odds were against him, with no horse since the seventies winning the Triple Crown, and three already this decade winning the first two legs, but coming up short in the Belmont (War Emblem, Funny Cide, and Smarty Jones).
Dutrow shouldn't have been so confident, declaring Big Brown the winner before the race had even begun.
He put Big Brown on a pedestal, which the media followed with six or so hours of race coverage before the race, talking nothing else put Big Brown. Even after the race it was all about Big Brown, who cares that Da'Tara, a 38-1 long shot won the Belmont Stakes.
Were the horse, the jockey, and the ownership deserving of winning the Triple Crown, of course? Was the trainer, no?
Luckily for the loser, if Big Brown shows no physical problems, the horse will probably race in the Travers Stakes on August 23 and the Breeders' Cup Classic in October. Two important races if Dutrow wants his horse to regain its glory before retiring.