We knew going into yesterday's Belmont Stakes that there would be no Triple Crown winner in horse racing this year.
But there was hope that Calvin Borel would accomplish an unprecedented Triple Crown for a jockey — winning all three races but not on the same horse. As it turned out, though, that didn't happen, either.
Aboard Mine That Bird, the horse he rode to victory in the Kentucky Derby five weeks earlier, Borel finished third in yesterday's Belmont to the horse that is being called the "other Bird," Summer Bird.
The jockey who rode Summer Bird to victory yesterday, Kent Desormeaux, should know how Borel feels. He came up short of Triple Crowns aboard Real Quiet in 1998 and Big Brown last year, losing the Belmont both times.
The 1½–mile Belmont is known as the "Test of the Champion," and for good reason. The first two races in the Triple Crown — the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes — are shorter distances. The Belmont is longer than most 3–year–old horses are accustomed to, creating all sorts of problems for jockeys.
The Belmont has been known to do this to horses in the past. Last year, Big Brown was merely the latest in a parade of disappointments.
But it seems appropriate that the final jewel in the Triple Crown should present challenges that the first two do not.
Because overcoming the obstacles makes winning the Triple Crown a greater achievement.
Desormeaux has known the disappointment of coming up short in the Belmont. And now, so has Borel.
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