Big Brown loses the Belmont Stakes and was eased to finish last - something we did not expect.

Did Big Brown bleed during this grueling mile and a half race on the hottest day in history of Elmont, New York?

Big Brown loses the Belmont Stakes to the surprise of many so much so that Nick’s win was rather overshadowed.

Was it the quarter crack that cost Big Brown his Triple Crown? Was it the steroids or is it the practice of using so many drugs in the horse racing game. In the old days horses were not given steroids, Bute, lasix and did not have their ankles injected with cortisone as a quick fix for soreness.

Big Brown, the fabulous horse that had the best chance for winning the Triple Crown since Pleasant Colony, lost his chance during the Belmont Stakes held at Belmont park race track in Elmont, New York today.

Was it the heat that prevented this horse from winning? As I write this the Veterinarians are checking out what exactly happened to Big Brown, at the Belmont Stakes, a race for for 3 years old at a mile and a half.

It could easily have been a bleeding problem where the horse's blood pressure rises and then the horse will bleed in the nose. In effect, a nose bleed. This is not life threatening but it prevents the horse from running because with blood in his nose he cannot breath and get the oxygen he needs for a full out run. Jockey's know this and if a horse has bled, they are usually eased. Typically when this happens you will notice next time the horse races, he has been given the drug Lasix, a drug for high blood pressure.

Kent Desormeaux did the best thing for a horse in trouble and eased him when he knew he had no horse left and was out of the running. Kent is a class act. If the young jockey on Eight Belles had been paying attention, he would have eased his horse too.

Big Brown and Big Brown’s sire are know for getting quarter cracks in their hooves. They can be so severe that they can run from the top of the hoof, where the hair of the leg meets the hoof all the way down to the sole of the foot. These can be extremely painful if they are severe enough. Big Brown's connections said that that the quarter crack was tiny, at only 5/8 of an inch and this kind of minor injury should not have hurt his chances in the Belmont Stakes.

Nick Zito's horse Da' Tara won the race by lengths in hand. Congratulations to Nick. He really knows what he's doing with horses.  Da' Tara had a 92 Beyer rating. His lightly raced horse won the race and I believe the practice of running horses at two years old is stupid. 2 year old horses are not grown. They are called "babies" on the backstretch. Their bodies will not mature until they are four years old. So it is silly to race a horse at two. Usually any two year old champion cannot be found winning in their three year old campaigns.

Even at three years old, which is the age for the Triple Crown races, horses are not fully developed. They knees have not stopped growing so it takes a spectacular animal to win the triple crown and I believe the use of drugs have diluted the gene pool so much that horses cannot compete without drugs and that is sad. Horse Racing has got to stop the use of drugs so that the strong horse who can win without drugs can again stand at stud and produce colts and filly's that can win the Triple crown without the use of drugs.

"If you don't wait on them they'll make you wait" (Woody Stevens)