June 08, 2008

DA'TARA has won the Grade I Belmont Stakes as hot favourite Big Brown failed badly in his bid to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

Da'Tara, trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Alan Garcia, led from wire to wire while Big Brown, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in dominant fashion, never appeared to have what it would take to triumph in the 2400m Classic dubbed the "Test of the Champion".

Denis of Cork finished second with Anak Nakal and Ready's Echo dead-heating for third.

"I had no horse," Big Brown's jockey, Kent Desormeaux, said after allowing the colt to cruise home last in the eight-horse field.

Big Brown, unbeaten in five starts leading into the Belmont, was bidding to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 and just the 12th overall.

Instead, the three-year-old became the 11th horse since Affirmed to fall short in the Belmont.

Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow jnr had said with characteristic swagger that a victory for his colt was a "foregone conclusion", despite the fact that the horse was nursing a quarter crack in his near-fore hoof wall.

The crack had been sutured and patched, and the Big Brown camp insisted injury played no role in the defeat.

"He was keen to go on early," Desormeaux said.

"He broke so hard. I got him out early and just cantered down the backside.

"A couple of times, he thought it was time to go and jumped into the bridle. But I had no horse, and when I realised something was wrong, I knew he wouldn't be fifth. He's the best horse I've ever been on so I took care of him."

Track doctor Larry Bramlage said in a post-race television interview that early indications showed the horse was not injured, reassuring US racing fans dismayed by the post-race breakdown of Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles.

"He looked fine during the race," Bramlage said.

"All I saw was when Desormeaux slowed him down. The veterinarian inspection team did not find anything wrong with him and he was not lame."

Desormeaux, who also saw the Triple Crown slip through his fingers in 1998, when Victory Gallop stunned Real Quiet on the wire in the Belmont Stakes, said that only now could he appreciate the difficulty of the task.

"I can't fathom what kind of freaks those 11 Triple Crown winners were," Desormeaux said.

"It's unfathomable to me.

"I mean, I won the Derby with some pressure. I won the Preakness in an armchair ride. And for whatever reason, he wasn't resilient enough today. This is unknown to me because he's actually supposed to be a mile-and-a-half horse. He's supposed to be a distance horse.

"These occasions have only made me realise how awesome those (Triple Crown-winning) horses were."

Desormeaux was unsure whether the stifling heat in New York took its toll on Big Brown, or whether the son of Boundary was feeling the effects of the quarter crack in his near-fore hoof.

He said, however, that Big Brown's last-place finish would not hurt as much as Real Quiet's loss by a nose a decade ago. With Big Brown struggling in the stretch, Desormeaux had no second thoughts about pulling him up.

"I think there's absolutely something I could have done different (with Real Quiet)," he said. "That one just ate me up. This will never eat me up.

"This horse was in no way, shape or form lame or sore but there's something amiss. He's probably just tired. I thought in this horse's best interests, let's just get him back to the barn and recharge his batteries."