Belmont

Union Rags ate contentedly in his stall Sunday morning, 15 hours after finally fulfilling his promise - and some would say destiny - with a thrilling win at the Belmont Stakes. The once-beleaguered colt had arrived at 1 in the morning. After getting some rest, he was turned out in his paddock and spent the morning rolling around and watching the workers and other horses at Michael Matz's Victory Farm stables on the northern grounds of the Fair Hill Training Center. "He couldn't be doing any better," Matz said.

Elmont, NY - Paynter stayed where he was, a few feet off the rail, charging toward the finish. Everyone whose heart had been broken by Union Rags before must have had the same thought: he's not going to squeeze through. But then, delivering upon the power and grace that Fair Hill-based trainer Michael Matz had promised, the huge colt saw the inside lane, barged forward and floated over the final feet of the most grueling Triple Crown race, winning the 144th Belmont by a neck on Saturday.

You heard some derivative of the phrase over and over yesterday: "I've been around horse racing a long time, and I've never seen something like this . " Or: "In all my years covering sports, I haven't had many days like this . " And, so, here are some of the best words used to describe the shocking scratch of I'll Have Anotherfrom the 144th Belmont Stakes, robbing him of a chance to become the 12th Triple Crown winner....

To no one's surprise, Saturday in Long Island broke gloomily, with neither dark angry clouds nor a blazing sun. The sky just hovered, as did an unmoving humidity. The clouds are burning off now, and it could be a sunny afternoon. Belmont Park feels crowded and cramped. Everything is behind some sort of barrier. Every passage way is too narrow for the people trying to get through it. What should have been the anxious buzz of people hoping to see history is now the unsettled disappointment of knowing they won't . The crowd isn't nearly what it would have been but it's still large and, remember, there's nobody allowed out in the infield here.

Rosie Napravnik became the first woman ever to win the Kentucky Oaks five weeks ago. Today, the former Hereford student who began her career in Maryland can become the second woman to win the Belmont - or any Triple Crown race, for that matter - on long shot Five Sixteen. She'll be trying to follow one of her idols, Julie Crone, who won it in 1993 on Colonial Affair. Five Sixteen has won only once, on Aquedcuct's inner track on March 14 against other maidens. He most recently ran fourth in a nine-furlong allowance race on April 18. At least he's fresh.

The absence of Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another opens up the 2012 Belmont Stakes from a wagering perspective. Dullahan and Union Rags are likely to be co-favorites, with Dullahan possibly taking slightly more wagering. The Union Rags faithful still believe he is one of the top horses in the country despite back-to-back disappointments in the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. He did take one of the worst trips in the Derby and ran very well once he found room. Dullahan was moving the best at the end of the Derby, finishing a strong third.

Not the beverage koozie. A couple of weeks that have been choked by distraction for Doug O'Neill and his Triple Crown contender  I'll Have Another came to a head Friday when it was announced that "vendor error" had canceled a giveaway in the colt's honor. He was supposed to adorn koozies -- yeah, those things that keep your beer from getting warm -- given to fans today. O'Neill, despondent, declined comment. OK. That last sentence isn't true. But the trainer on the cusp of running for the Triple Crown did take unusual action this morning when he brought his horse to the track at 5:30, right when it opened.

Once again, horse racing will have to wait for a new hero. The erstwhile Sport of Kings will not have its first Triple Crown since 1978. Not this year. The shocking news that I'll Have Anotherhad to be scratched from Saturday's Belmont Stakes is another huge blow to an industry desperately trying to become relevant for a new generation of sports fans. The fact that the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner had to withdraw just a day before making his bid to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed added some drama to the disappointment.

As  I'll Have Another  ducked from his barn for an early 5:30 workout Friday, his connections could only hope what they'd seen the day before was an aberration. They'd buried their deepest fear, only admitting hours later that, as owner J. Paul Reddam would say, "… History is going to have to wait for another day. " I'll Have Another scratched from Saturday's 144th Belmont, becoming the first horse since Bold Venture in 1936 not to go to post with a chance to win the Triple Crown.

To hear the connections of Dullahan tell it, they'll have no less than the spirits of the sport's greatest runners pushing their horse in Saturday's Belmont. "It's our job," said Jerry Crawford, leader of the colt's Iowa-based ownership team, when asked about the chance at spoiling a Triple Crown bid. "This is what we owe to Affirmed, Seattle Slew and the rest. " Dullahan, at 5-1, is the second favorite on the morning line for the 144th Belmont. The heavy favorite, of course, is I'll Have Another, at 4-5. He can become the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown, and first since Affirmed in 1978.