ELMONT, N.Y. – For decades, Belmont Park has been the long, home stretch of heartbreak for Triple Crown contenders in search of a place in history. Now, a jockey – Mine That Bird’s Calvin Borel – can join such horses as Big Brown, Smarty Jones, Funny Cide and War Emblem in the club of third-leg disappointment.
Borel, who rode Mine That Bird at the Kentucky Derby and Rachel Alexandra at the Preakness Stakes, was on the verge of becoming the first jockey to win a personal Triple Crown on the backs of multiple horses.
Only D. Wayne Lukas, an owner, can claim a similar feat; his horses Thunder Gulch and Timber Country combined for three victories in 1995.
A late run by Summer Bird, at 12-1 opening odds, got in Borel’s way at the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6. His horse, emerging from a somewhat slow start, was, in race caller Tom Durkin’s words, “moving like a shot” – streaking across the outside at the final turn and meeting Dunkirk and Charitable Man at the front.
But Summer Bird, coming out of the fourth gate, rode the rail early and used his extra energy to pass the three leaders (and race favorites) with about 150 yards to go.
“I thought an inside trip might help me,” said Kent Desormeaux, Summer Bird’s jockey. “When I did get that opportunity [to make a move], this colt just laid down and took off. He really exploded the last, probably, 500 yards, and there was never any doubt. He had dead aim on the leaders.”
“I thought I was home free, but the other horses galloped by,” said Borel, who had predicted victory but was not in bad spirits after the race. His horse, which might have been too aggressive too early, finished third, while Dunkirk finished second.
The crowd, no longer shrieking as it did when Borel made his move, grew silent as Summer Bird crossed the finish line. Mine That Bird’s trainer, Chip Woolley, lowered his head and the black cowboy hat atop it. But let us not be too quick to term this another tragedy at Big Sandy.
First, in a curious development, the Belmont Stakes title stays within the family. Summer Bird, as The Courier wrote last week, is Mine That Bird’s brother. Both share the sire Birdstone, which won the Stakes in 2004.
Second, Belmont vindication finally comes for Desormeaux, an accomplished, well-liked horse racing figure who had never been able to win at Belmont, despite five victories spread between the Derby and the Preakness. He felt the pain of defeat after his colt Big Brown tired near the end of a Triple Crown attempt in 2008.
“Last year’s Belmont was like swallowing a spoon sideways,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much I’m going inside, how well it feels to have that contentment and to be able to go home and rest at ease knowing I’ve won the three American classics.”
