Summer Bird Wins Belmont

NEW YORK (AP) - This was a Belmont for the Birds.
It was Summer Bird, not Mine That Bird and jockey Calvin Borel,
who came roaring down the long stretch and won the final jewel of
the Triple Crown on Saturday.
For a brief moment on the turn for home, Borel looked like a
winner. His tough little gelding took the lead, and even Borel
believed his victory guarantee was assured.
"I thought I was home free," he said, "but the other horses
galloped by."
They sure did.
With the crowd of 52,861 cheering on the leaders in the stretch,
Mine That Bird passed Dunkirk. But it was Summer Bird who pulled
away from them both for a 2¾-length victory, with Dunkirk second
and Mine That Bird a neck back in third in the field of 10
3-year-olds
The upset ended Borel's bid to become the first jockey to win a
personal Triple Crown, and he failed to deliver on a guarantee of
victory in the Belmont Stakes. Borel won the Kentucky Derby aboard
Mine That Bird, then took the Preakness with the filly Rachel
Alexandra.
Summer Bird, sent off at 11-1 odds, gave jockey Kent Desormeaux
a Belmont victory he desperately wanted.
"I hope from now on we'll talk about winning one," Desormeaux
said.
Last year, he won the Derby and Preakness aboard Big Brown, only
to have to pull up the colt in the Belmont. And in 1998, he brought
Real Quiet into the Belmont for a Triple try only to get beat by
Victory Gallop by a nose in a heartbreaking defeat.
Charitable Man was fourth Saturday, followed by Luv Gov, Flying
Private, Brave Victory, Mr. Hot Stuff, Chocolate Candy and Miner's
Escape.
There was an inquiry filed by Charitable Man's jockey Alan
Garcia against Dunkirk for interference, but it was disallowed by
the racing stewards.
The winning time for the 1½ miles was 2:27.54.
The Triple Crown season ended the way it started - with an
upset. Mine That Bird was all but discounted in the Derby, but won
at 50-1 odds - and his 6¾-length winning margin was the largest in
63 years. Two weeks later, Borel was obligated to ride Rachel
Alexandra in the Preakness for new owner Jess Jackson, and the
filly beat Mine That Bird by a length. Jackson said last week
Rachel Alexandra would be given a rest and not run in the Belmont.
In the Belmont, Mine That Bird was sent off as the 6-5 favorite,
but he seemed a bit more frisky than usual in the paddock and on
the walk through the tunnel to the track. And he was a little too
eager in the race, pulling Borel into contention sooner than anyone
expected.
"He might have been a hair higher today coming in here, just a
little more amped up," Mine That Bird trainer Chip Woolley said,
"but overall he was the same horse I led up in the Derby. He ran a
great race and just got beat, and you have to accept that and go
on."
Summer Bird, meanwhile, looked almost regal before the start.
The chestnut son of 2004 Belmont winner Birdstone - yes, the same
sire as Mine That Bird - took the rail route usually the trademark
of a Borel ride before breaking outside and into the clear.
"The colt broke like a rocket," Desormeaux said. "He
absolutely dragged me around the race track. I had an armchair ride
until I found some room. I found room."
Summer Bird won the Belmont in just his fifth career start.
Owned by Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman, the colt did not
run as a 2-year-old. In his third start, he was a closing third in
the Arkansas Derby and came back and was a closing sixth in the
Derby - 13 lengths behind Mine That Bird.
Summer Bird, trained by the recently licensed Tim Ice, returned
$25.80. $9.30 and $4.70. Dunkirk paid $5.40 and $3.60, and Mine
That Bird returned $2.60 to show.
Ice seemed stunned by his colt's accomplishment, which came on
the trainer's 35th birthday. As he walked into the postrace news
conference, he was serenaded with a rendition of "Happy
Birthday."
"Right now it's just unexplainable," he said. "If my career
goes nowhere from here, I've got a Belmont win."
Once again, the "Test of the Champion," prevented a little
Triple Crown history. While a Triple Crown wasn't on the line for a
horse, Borel was certain he'd pull off an unprecedented Triple of
his own.
But for now, the Belmont remains a race usually reserved for
long shots. The favorite has won only six of the last 30 runnings
of the longest and most grueling of the Triple Crown races.
"He was tired. He was used, but he looked all right," Woolley
said. "We're a little down, disappointed right now. He ran a great
race. It's been a lot of fun. We'll give him a good eight weeks off
and let him freshen up."