Long Shot Da' Tara Adds a Twist To Dutrow's 'Foregone Conclusion'

ELMONT, N.Y., June 7 -- Maybe it was the heat, which topped 90 degrees at post time. Or maybe it was the deafening roar of the 94,000-plus spectators. Or maybe it was the jinx that for 30 years has bedeviled other horses aiming for racing's Triple Crown.

Or maybe it was trainer Nick Zito, once again stealing a racehorse's shot at history.

Zito is accustomed to playing the role of the spoiler. In 2004, his 36-to-1 long shot Birdstone, a horse so small he was known as "Little Man" in the barn, upset the odds-on favorite Smarty Jones in the final stretch of the Belmont Stakes to spoil that effort at the Triple Crown.

This time, it was another of Zito's longest of long shots, Da' Tara, at 38-to-1 odds, who beat the favorite Big Brown before stunned spectators who let out an audible "boo" when the race ended.

Comparing Da' Tara's unexpected victory Saturday to Birdstone's upset four years ago, Zito said: "They both were surprising, and both gratifying. They were both long shots."

Da' Tara, purchased in Sarasota, Fla., two years ago for $175,000, came into the Belmont Stakes with just one previous victory, on Jan. 5 at Gulfstream Park. Da' Tara was a late entrant to the Belmont, and his earnings were listed at just more than $64,000, the lowest of any of the horses running in this year's race.

Big Brown, by contrast, was coming off seemingly easy victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and appeared so invincible that before the race, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. was declaring Big Brown's Triple Crown victory "a foregone conclusion."

The stars seemed aligned for Big Brown's victory to seal the Triple Crown when the horse considered his greatest potential rival, Casino Drive, was pulled from the Belmont Stakes at the last minute after developing a hoof problem.

With Casino Drive sidelined, Big Brown's Triple Crown appeared inevitable. Da' Tara's name never entered the picture.

Afterward, savoring his victory, Zito had only compliments for Big Brown. "Obviously, the champ, Big Brown, was not himself today," Zito said. "He just wasn't himself, and we took advantage of it."

Zito called Big Brown "an enormously spectacular horse."

"I really think Big Brown has enormous potential. He is a special horse. I have to give a nod to Big Brown."

"That's what this sport's about," Zito said. "There are a lot of upsets."

There will be much second-guessing now. Should Big Brown have run in the Belmont Stakes with the slight crack in his left hoof that was sealed just before the race? Was the race jinxed from the start, when Big Brown drew the rail position, after Dutrow and jockey Kent Desormeaux said Big Brown always prefers running on the outside? Was it the heat? Or the crowd noise? Or the sheer difficulty of the mile and a half-long Test of the Champion, as the Belmont is known?

Those answers will have to wait. After the race, the on-site veterinarian, Larry Bramlage, said Big Brown showed no signs of limping, and was in no obvious physical distress.

But Saturday belonged to Da' Tara, the unlikely spoiler.

"That's what makes this game so great," owner Robert LaPenta said. "We're just elated, delighted."

New York Gov. David Patterson said: "Many people came here today to see a Triple Crown winner. But Da' Tara had other plans."