There were 94,476 fans at Belmont Park on Saturday. Several thousand fans, not regular racegoers, were at the Long Island track to see Big Brown make history and become only the 12th horse to win the American Triple Crown.

Big Brown was the 1-4 favorite with the scratch of Casino Drive who had been withdrawn because of a stone bruise in the left hind foot. Nine three year-olds went postward. It was about 11 30 P M on Saturday in London as the British audience, after seeing New Approach win the Vodafone Derby earlier in the day, was preparing to cheer a Triple Crown winner home in New York, America.

The script was the same. Big Brown was the favorite and at odds that suggested that the race was a mere formality. A quarter money favorite and there was a large number of fans who bought a $2.00 win ticket on Big Brown with the intention of not cashing it.

Something went terribly wrong during the course of the play. Big Brown was handy and jockey Kent Desormeaux shook the reins of his horse moving into the far turn and there was no ripple in the water. The crowd waited patiently. After all, this was no ordinary horse. The Derby and the Preakness wins had turned into processions at the top of the homestretch. The top of the Belmont lane was approaching and Big Brown had not had made his move. As the first iota of anxiety struck the huge throng, a moment of harsh reality was beginning to set in. Big Brown was slowing down. He was stopping. Jockey Desormeaux was easing Brown up. The UPS deliveryman was not making the appointed delivery. The fans were in disbelief. Da’ Tara had set the pace and was bowling along merrily. The winner of the Belmont Stakes had been spotted. Da’ Tara, trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Alan Garcia, was drawing away from his eight adversaries.

The winning margin was five and one quarter lengths. The time was 2 29.65 for 2400 metres on a fast track. Da’ Tara paid $79.00 for a $2.00 ticket. Da’ Tara is owned by Robert La Prenta whose War Pass did not make it to the Derby after being the juvenile champion in 2007. Denis Of Cork took the runner-up berth. Anak Nakal was third.

This is a case of a loser making more news than the winner. Richard Dutorw, Jr did not make excuses. The quarter crack and the patching of it was not mentioned as a possible reason.

Jockey Desormeaux said, “I don’t know. I was not going to be fifth. He is the best I have ridden and I took care of him.”

The reference was to getting a check for finishing fifth.

In 2004, Nick Zito had sent out Birdstone who stopped Smarty Jones from becoming a Triple Crown champion. Zito said, “Da’ Tara is by Tiznow. I believe in pedigrees. Tiznow was a Breeders’ Cup hero. Let me thank God for this. Big Brown did not run his race but my horse did.”

Jockey Alan Garcia was recording his first win in a Triple Crown race. He talked about his plan. “Nick (Zito) asked me to go to the front. Slow down turning for home and take it from there. It was all so easy.”

Da’ Tara, by Tiznow, was winning his second race from eight starts. He broke the duck in January at Gulfstream Park. In his most start, he was second in the Barbaro Stakes at Pimlico. Da’ Tara’s share of the purse was six hundred thousand dollars.

Big Brown joins those who won the first two parts of the Triple Crown but failed in the third and final leg, the Belmont Stakes, called the ‘test of champions.’

At this point, nothing has emerged from the Big Brown camp. There is no question we will know in the days to come if something did go wrong.