ten billion butterfly sneezes

It wasn’t Big Brown’s day today at the Belmont. In spite of the acumen of jockey Kent Desormeaux, who judiciously steered Big Brown to the outside early on, and who appeared to be content to let Big hold in third down the backstretch, there was “just no horse” ¹ left coming off turn 4.

Desormeaux never went to the whip; he knew that on this day, the horse didn’t have it in him. So, he eased him up, and Big Brown ran dead last. Last. But not dead. And not hurt. Even in defeat, the man/horse team showed up well.

In the spirit of monetary gains, the following payoff for the winner, Da’ Tara:

79.00 28.00 14.80

I’d be proud to have handicapped the race, and chosen Da’ Tara to win. I’d also gladly shred the winning ticket to have a Triple Crown winner.

Maybe next year.

-k-

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