Da' Tara, a 38-1 shot, led from start to finish to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, spoiling Big Brown's Triple Crown attempt. The favorite became the seventh horse since 1997 to fail in the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Big Brown didn't have his normal acceleration around the final turn and was eased in the stretch by jockey Kent Desormeaux. He just galloped across the finish line, last in the field of nine. Walter Blum Jr., an assistant to trainer Rick Dutrow, said Big Brown checked out fine after the race.
Questions will persist in the coming days: Was it the quarter crack in the colt's left front hoof? Did he suffer from pulmonary bleeding? The 93-degree heat in New York?
Or was it just the grueling Triple Crown schedule — three big races in five weeks? Next year, it will have been 31 years since Affirmed outdeuled Alydar in all three races.
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