140th Belmont Stakes

-Coast

Well, Big Brown's attempt to be the first triple crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 was a complete disaster or was it a complete hoax?

I always look at the possibility of sporting events being fixed because of the massive amounts of money on the line, gambling and otherwise. Obviously, the best for horse racing would have been Big Brown winning the triple crown but with nearly 6 million dollars being wagered on big brown alone, the temptation for some type of conspiracy had to be there.

Big Brown came from the far outside to win the Kentucky Derby. He exploded down the stretch in the Preakness to win effortlessly. Yeah, he had a cracked hoof but according to all these horse racing experts, it should not have been an issue. Also, Big Brown did not take his 'roids this month. Would this cause him to come in last place? I doubt the steroids that horses take in one month can effect them that much but then again I don't know anything about it.

I do know one thing and that is the fastest horse on the track was pulled up down the stretch when there was apparently nothing wrong with him. Ken Desormeaux claims he "had no horse." What does that mean? Desormeaux said Big Brown stumbled out of the gate...but when you watch it again, Big Brown did not trip. Desormeaux when asked what went wrong today said "I have no idea." You are riding the horse, you pulled him up and didn't push him the last quarter mile. I am hoping there was something wrong that you noticed that caused you to pull up, other than the fact that maybe you had 1 grand on three long shots knowing that you had full control over how your horse, the overwhelming favorite, would finish.

Even more peculiar are the comments from the vet after the race. The vet said that Big Brown looked fine. The veterinarian inspection team found nothing wrong with him. All the vets saw was Desormeaux slow him down. The hoof was fine after the race. The vet also said that maybe Big Brown didn't feel like running and it wasn't his race. Give me a break.

Finally, trainer Rick Dutrow who guaranteed victory, was lost for an explanation after the race. Dutrow has "no idea" what happened. He was looking for a problem and can't find one. Dutrow said "Big brown looks like he is fine." When asked if Big Brown is hurt he responded "I don't see a problem and I am looking for one."

Ok, so Big Brown had something bad enough going on that he was reigned in on the back stretch of the Belmont Stakes when he was going for the triple crown. But, no one could find anything wrong with him. The vets could find nothing, the trainer could find nothing, the jockey doesn't know what happened. That leaves us with a couple possibilities. Either Big Brown didn't feel like running today. Maybe it was too hot. Maybe he needed his roids and his foot hurt. Who knows...all of these explanations I doubt very much. Why didn't the heat effect any other horse? Why were Big Brown's training runs a success without the 'roids and with the hoof issue? The other possibility, of course, is that this race was fixed. Maybe Desormeaux had money on other horses and pulled Big Brown up so he wouldn't win. Maybe Vegas had some huge hoax set up so that it wouldn't lose the millions of dollars that were wagered on Big Brown to win the race. No one bet on these long shots really...did they? Did some one really take the 600 plus to one 6-4 exacta? I doubt it, or at least not enough to off set the amount of money that would have been lost if Big Brown won. The pieces just don't add up for me. Big Brown was the fastest horse and no one can find anything wrong with him yet he was pulled up down the stretch to finish last. He lost to a horse who he beat by 23 lengths last time they raced. Something just doesn't seem right.