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Big Brown couldn't keep up with Da'Tara and finished last as his jockey eased him up with 1/4 mile to go in the race.

Winner Da'Tara went to the post with 38-1 odds.


Dawn

It is too bad, but credit Big Brown;s jockey for pulling back when he realized he wasn't gonna win rather than risk his horse's life.

It takes a truly special horse to win all three. That Belmont is the real Triple Crown Killer. Has any horse recently won the Belmont and one of the other two, or have they flagged on the Belmont?

Major disappointment!

The wind was just sucked out of everyone there when the jockey pulled up and he fell back. Its good to protect the horse but a major disappointment.

BGM wrote:It takes a truly special horse to win all three. That Belmont is the real Triple Crown Killer. Has any horse recently won the Belmont and one of the other two, or have they flagged on the Belmont?

I live in Kentucky and so this kind of stuff is all over the news. My perception is that nearly every 4-5 years there's a "Triple Crown" contender and they almost always lose the Belmont. I haven't actually looked up the numbers so my perception could be way off.

Well you can't exactly be a triple crown contender if you've already been beaten in the Derby or Preakness


There are about 20 contenders that go to post every year in the Kentucky Derby. Only one still stands after it. The hype builds before the Preakness and should he win that then it reaches fever pitch.

The Belmont is by far the hardest to win after a horse has been proven over 10 then 9 furlongs the step up to 12 in the Belmont means that it takes a truly special horse to do it. That and it takes place over the space of 5 weeks, 3 tough races takes a lot out of a horse, especially when as no other horse is going for the Triple Crown after the Derby they can be rested and refreshed for the Belmont.

It seems that Big Brown just wasn't good enough, shocking that the jockey pulled him up if there was nothing wrong with him.

11, now 12, horses have won the first two jewels of the Triple Crown since 1978. None of them have won the Belmont and, hence, the Triple Crown. This is the most grueling of sports achievements. Three races in the space of five weeks, with the longest last.

I know there's been some speculation of spreading them out more. But that wouldn't be a good idea. If a horse won the Triple Crown after they space them out, everyone would then ask the question: 'Would they have won if the timing hadn't been changed?' It wouldn't be a fair yardstick to judge horses that would win the Triple Crown that way against horses that ran the more grueling schedule. And every horse owner wants the next Secretariat.


Dawn

I watched the highlights of the race and it looked like the jockey had trouble
with the horse IMO. the horse seemed to be fighting the jockey a little.

Thats pretty usual. They were to go 12 furlongs so obviously started at a slower pace than they would have had it been the 9 or 10f that he was used to. He wanted to go faster than the jockey wanted him to go. He did seem to settle ok though and had no excuses.

The triple crown is a lot of running in a short time. It takes a truly special horse to make it... that is why it hasn't happened in thirty years.