Belmont Thoughts

It's kind of funny to me but the thing that I keep playing over in my head is the totally ridiculous piece Jerry Bailey did on what would have happened if Calvin Borel would have had the mount on Mine That Bird in the Preakness. Jerry said and had nifty photo's and graphic animations to prove that with Borel rail ride Mine That Bird would have beaten Rachel Alexandra by about a length. Seriously, Jerry, was this piece your idea or did the idiots at the network put you up to this. Do you actually think that the other jocks would have let Calvin even sniff the rail if he was on Mine That Bird in the Preakness. The fact that Calvin couldn't get close to the rail and had to take the outside on the turn in The Belmont made the whole stupid piece seem even more ignorant.

With a third place finish in The Belmont on Saturday hopefully the curtain closed on the "Calvin Borel Show". I was a big Calvin fan on the first Saturday in May, I found his youthful excitement after the Derby victory enjoyable, as I did when he won on Street Sense. Come the Preakness and the guaranteed victory in a interview minutes before the race and the finger waging and showboating even before the finish line, my opinion was changing. I began to officially dislike Calvin when he worked Mine That Bird at Churchill and guaranteed a victory in the Belmont four days later. Off to the Big Apple it was, and a trip to the Letterman Show, countless interviews and plenty of media coverage. Apparently Calvin was to busy to grab some mounts at Big Sandy and become a little more familiar with the track. Well I hope you enjoyed your vacation in NYC Calvin and the fifteen minutes of fame.

On the track I found the actual race very exciting. The run from the top of the stretch to the finish was back and forth between Mine That Bird and Dunkirk, throw in Charitable Man and the champ Summer Bird and the stretch run brought me to the edge of my seat.

Hats of the the little gelding. He had a tremendous run the last month. I, like a lot of people threw him out of the Derby as soon as the past performances came out. He proved in the Preakness and The Belmont that he belongs. The fact Mine That Bird has no value as a sire hopefully we will see him for a couple years to come.