The other Bird is the word!

An upset at Belmont!


photo: Rick Samuels/Blood Horse

Summer Bird, who went off at something like 11-1, has won the Belmont Stakes, stealing the victory from his half brother, Mine That Bird, and spoiling Calvin Borel's bid for a jockey Triple Crown.

Ridden tactfully by jockey Kent Desormeaux, Summer Bird was in the back of the pack in the early going (as was Mine That Bird) but came barreling up at the end to stomp rallying Dunkirk, MTB, and Charitable Man.
Summer Bird and Mine That Bird have the same father - Birdstone, who - coincidentally enough, won the Belmont in 2004 (to ruin Smarty Jones's Triple Crown bid).... Small world, even in horseracing.

Desormeaux, as most will remember, lost the Triple Crown last year when he pulled up Big Brown during the debacle that was last year's Belmont Stakes. He also had a heartbreaking by-a-nostril loss back in 1998 on Triple Crown candidate Real Quiet (a personal fave of mine), so this jockey was really really anxious to get his win. He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 2004, so he knows his way around a racetrack.

Summer Bird's trainer, Tim Ice, has only been training for one year, so it's quite an accomplishment for him to take a leg of the spring Classics.

I can honestly say (and my dad can back this up) that I had a bit of an inkling about Summer Bird - but I didn't bet him to win. I bet him in an exacta box with Mine That Bird. I was a wee bit psyched when there was an inquiry against the second place finisher Dunkirk... it would have placed Dunkirk fourth and moved Mine That Bird into second - and I would have hit my exacta.
Alas, the stewards held up the order of finish. But hey, the thought was there.

So how do I feel about Mine That Bird's loss? Disappointed, I guess, but only in small doses.
I can't help but be thrilled that he hit the board in all three Triple Crown races. (1st in Derby, 2nd in Preakness, 3rd today in the Belmont) It proves he is no fluke. I don't think we've seen the last of him yet. Matter of fact, we'll no doubt see alot of him - he's gelded, remember? No breeding career awaiting him...
And if memory serves (and it does) - another horse, just a few years ago, had a win-place-show combo as well. That horse's name? CURLIN.