Belmont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. -- D. Wayne Lukas was walking to the podium, preparing to give a brief interview about his two horses entered in the 141st Belmont Stakes, when he decided to inject a little comedy into the news conference. With the grace of a much younger man, the silver-haired Lukas, 74, snagged Chip Woolley's crutches and pretended to hobble to the stage. The entire room, including Woolley - who has been on crutches since he broke his leg in a motorcycle accident before the Kentucky Derby - laughed as if they had just watched Steve Martin perform a stand-up routine.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Chip Woolley waited patiently Wednesday morning for Mine That Bird's name to be called at the Belmont Stakes post-position draw. Woolley, though, isn't the most patient man on the planet. So when racing announcer and master of ceremonies Tom Durkin paused to ask Woolley which of the two remaining positions he would prefer - the six or the seven - Woolley shot him a look that contained equal parts bemusement and impatience. "It don't matter none," Woolley said. Mine That Bird ended up with the seventh position and will begin the week as a 2-1 favorite in the 141st running of the Belmont Stakes.

Jerry Hissam, Calvin Borel's close friend and longtime agent, was a little exasperated after the Preakness. Reporters were peppering him with questions about Borel, who had just won the second jewel of the 2009 Triple Crown, and he was trying to come up with a dignified way of saying what was on the tip of everyone's tongue: Isn't it about time the racing community figured out that Borel - even at age 42 - is one of the best jockeys in the sport?...

Mine That Bird, the smallish gelding that ran first and second under different jockeys in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, could have a third different rider when he runs in the Belmont Stakes. Mike Smith, who was aboard for Mine That Bird's second-place finish in the Preakness on Saturday, is unavailable for the Belmont. Because of a prior commitment, Smith will ride Madeo in the Grade I Whittingham Stakes at Hollywood Park on June 6 instead of Mine That Bird, ESPN reported Monday. That could open the door for a return by Calvin Borel, who won the Kentucky Derby on the gelding as a 50-1 long shot but switched to filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The morning after Big Brown's stunning last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, his trainer didn't show at the colt's barn, so it was left to others to try to explain why the overwhelming favorite was a flop. And at least a couple of horsemen offered a guess that perhaps Big Brown had breathing problems caused by a displaced palate. Dr. Nick Meittinis, owner of the Maryland Veterinary Group, which cares for horses stabled at Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park and the Bowie Training Center, said yesterday: "I don't think we'll ever know what happened in that race.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Trainer Rick Dutrow leaned on the rail at the Detention Barn a half-hour after Big Brown had been pulled up in the Belmont Stakes and momentarily dropped his forehead onto his crossed arms. Dutrow's thin brown hair was soaked. His blue shirt soggy. His hopes for history lost. Banished with the loss of a Triple Crown. Da' Tara, trained by Nick Zito and a 38-1 shot, went straight to the lead out of the starting gate yesterday and wired the field, winning in 2 minutes, 29.65 seconds and paying $79. Behind him, coming out of the turn for home, jockey Kent Desormeaux shocked a surprisingly small announced crowd of 94,476 at Belmont Park by pulling up Big Brown and easing home far behind the rest of the field.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Temperature above 90 degrees today? No problem, babe. The 1 1/2 -mile Belmont course? Big Brown's cool. And a third race in five weeks? Just forget about it. That's the opinion of Big Brown's trainer, Maryland native Rick Dutrow. But will all those things combined with the competitive presence of nine challengers be too much for the favorite as he goes for history and the first Triple Crown in 30 years? "I don't see it. I don't see it," Dutrow said. "I don't see that this horse has been dragged through the mud and made to run in every dance.

Elmont, N.Y. -- At Churchill Downs, the black limo was completely out of place amid the pickups and ponies along the backstretch. It was parked outside the barn last month, and Big Brown's connections emerged. The horse's owner wore a dark blazer and Versace sunglasses, his eyes focused on a glowing cell phone as he indifferently answered reporters' questions. At Pimlico Race Course, arriving from Kentucky 10 days later, Big Brown was nearly two hours late to the track and the last horse to exit the trailer.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- It isn't the Triple Crown, but Better Talk Now, the 9-year-old veteran gelding who trains at the Fair Hill Training Center, will be going for his own prestigious feat tomorrow when he attempts to win the $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap about an hour before Big Brown is to run in the Belmont Stakes. A Manhattan double hasn't been accomplished in nearly two decades, not since Milesius swept the race in 1988 and 1989. Better Talk Now is the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf champion and has five Grade I victories.

ELMONT, N.Y.-- --Michael Iavarone's curiosity got the better of him, and when he saw a group of reporters assembled at Belmont Park yesterday, he immediately knew the object of their attention. So en route to visiting his own horse, the celebrated and sanctified Big Brown, Iavarone made a quick detour and parked his white Mercedes in front of Barn 17. "This is the first time I've put my eyes on him," Iavarone said shortly after stepping out of his car. "He's a good-looking horse." All eyes were directed at the large chestnut colt named Casino Drive, considered the top threat to spoil Big Brown's Triple Crown coronation in tomorrow's Belmont Stakes.