Summer Bird Overtakes Mine That Bird to Capture Belmont

Victory Prevents Jockey Borel's Attempt at Winning All Three Legs of the Triple Crown

ELMONT, N.Y., June 6 -- The Belmont Stakes has always had a cruel and sneaky sense of humor. The track nicknamed "Big Sandy" is so gorgeous and picturesque that it almost encourages its competitors to dream big, right before it punches them in the face, steals their wallet and breaks their heart.

Few jockeys understand this better than Kent Desormeaux, a 39-year-old Hall of Famer who twice has had a Triple Crown snatched from his grasp on the 1 1/2 -mile New York track. And so, as Desormeaux galloped Summer Bird to an unlikely victory Saturday in the 141st running of the Belmont -- passing Mine That Bird and Dunkirk on the final stretch -- a small part of him understood what Calvin Borel was going through.

Borel was attempting to become the first jockey in history to win all three legs of the Triple Crown series while riding two different horses, a feat dubbed the "Triple Calvin" by those desperate to inject some buzz into horse racing's final summer classic.

But Mine That Bird couldn't quite muster enough energy to hold a late lead, and Summer Bird and Desormeaux slid to the outside down the stretch and breezed to the wire, leaving Borel crestfallen, and the majority of the 52,861 in attendance feeling noticeably deflated.

"I thought I had it won when I got to the quarter pole," Borel said. "When I moved, I was happy. No excuses. He ran his eyeballs out. Turning for home, I thought he was home free. He ran his heart out. We just got outrun. Don't take anything away from the little horse."

Dunkirk, ridden by jockey John Velazquez finished a hair in front of Mine That Bird for second place, while Charitable Man came in a distant fourth. Summer Bird, at 11-to-1 odds, paid $25.80.

For Desormeaux, the victory offered a little slice of validation, considering it was the one Triple Crown race he had not won, and also little slice of redemption. In 1998, Desormeaux won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes aboard Real Quiet, and the duo looked like a good bet to become the first horse sweep the Triple Crown races for the first time since Affirmed in 1978. But in one of the most thrilling photo finishes in the history of the sport, Victory Gallop won by a head bob, prompting years of second-guessing about Desormeaux's ride.

A year ago, Desormeaux was, once again, a Belmont victory away from a Triple Crown, this time with Big Brown, but the powerful colt never looked right during the race, and Desormeaux shut him down on the back stretch and jogged him to the wire.

"Last year's Belmont was like swallowing a spoon sideways," Desormeaux said. "I had a horse I thought could not lose. . . . I slept very well with Real Quiet. I thought that, given the opportunity, I'd do it the same way all over again. I did not think I could lose. It just wasn't meant to be [either time]. I knew that when God had it in my plan, it would happen."

Much like Desormeaux did in 1998, Borel may have to live with some second guessing. Mine That Bird wasn't content to lay well back off the pace the way he'd run in the Derby and the Preakness, and Borel conceded he might have made his closing move a bit early.

"Maybe might have moved a little tad early, but he took me there," Borel said. "He run like I thought he would. I love the horse to death. He's an animal like a human being, just like me. I put him in a position to win and we just got outrun."

Summer Bird's victory wasn't just validation for Desormeaux, it was also showed the sport that trainer Tim Ice, who celebrated his 35th birthday Saturday, is poised to be a rising star in the sport. Ice was hired by Summer Bird's owner Vilasini Jayaraman despite the fact that he's only been training on his own for about a year, having served as an assistant under Desormeaux's brother, Keith, for five years. Ice, a bear of a man who towers over most people in the sport, might have been the most anonymous trainer at Belmont Park this week. All the focus was on the sport's other new face, Chip Woolley, trainer of Mine That Bird.

"If my career goes nowhere from here, I've got a Belmont win and they can't take that away from me," Ice said.

Woolley said he felt, in retrospect, that Mine That Bird might have been a little frisky prior to the race, maybe a little juiced up by the situation and the New York crowd in a way that he wasn't prior to the Derby.

"I was a little concerned when the horse went into the holding barn today," Woolley said. "He was a hair more amped up than previous races. Maybe a hair too fresh."