By Bob Markus



As the King of Siam once said to Anna, "is a puzzlement." How in the name of all that's Holy Bull did Big Brown go so Real Quiet in the Belmont? Big Brown may rhyme with Triple Crown, but there appears to be neither rhyme nor reason for his stunning failure in what may be remembered as horse racing's biggest Upset since, well, Upset upset Man o' War way back in 1919.

In the immediate aftermath of Saturday's race, no one could offer an explanation for the previously unbeaten and virtually untested Big Brown's astonishing performance--or lack of same. "I have no idea," was the answer de jour, the response given by jockey Kent Desormeaux, trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., and Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian. All three insisted that the colt was as sound as the dollar. Oops, wrong simile.

Dutrow was particularly unforthcoming, given his pre-race verbosity. The outspoken trainer, who had boldly been predicting a Triple Crown since before Big Brown's impressive Kentucky Derby victory, apparently was unaware of Joe Louis's famous adage: "He can run but he can't hide." In this instance it was Big Brown who couldn't run and Dutrow who couldn't hide, although both tried.

If there are no answers to be had there are certainly some questions to be asked. For instance, what's next for Big Brown? The colt's breeding rights already have been sold for $50 million, so an obvious option is to turn him into a racing Romeo, a decision that would doubtless please the S.P.C.A., not to mention Big Brown himself. But that begets another question or series of questions. How much has Saturday's debacle diminished Big Brown's value as a studly stallion? Can his reputation be rehabilitated by running in--and winning--the Travers Stakes and/or the Breeder's Cup Classic? And what if he enters the Travers or Classic and suffers another meltdown? One thing is fairly certain. Given the economics of the game, there is little chance that Big Brown will race beyond this year.

I've saved the best question for last. Name the winner of the 2008 Belmont Stakes. Let's see, is it De' Niro? Di' Tore? Da' Tara. That's it, Da' Tara. You may have noticed that halfway through this column the only one of the nine Belmont entrants discussed was the one that finished ninth. Da' Tara was and remains the Rodney Dangerfield of the turf world. Look him up on the internet and you will find 109,000 mentions. But 108,997 of them are more about Big Brown losing than Da' Tara winning.

In the weeks leading up to the Belmont, Da' Tara's owner, Robert LaPenta, was like Marjorie Main at the senior prom, waiting for someone to ask him a question about his horse. Any question. That is understandable. Da' Tara, after all, finished 23 1/2 lengths behind Big Brown in the Florida Derby and at 38-1 was the highest priced betting choice in the Belmont. What isn't quite as understandable is why so few people have expressed curiosity about the Belmont winner.

Was there any indication that this son of Tiznow, with only one career victory in seven starts could lead a mile and a half classic race from wire to wire? Well, there was, but you had to look mighty hard to find it. First of all, his sire had won the Breeder's Cup Classic on the same Belmont track, one of his two consecutive Classic victories. Then there was the fact that Da' Tara had finished second in his only appearance at Belmont in his first start as a 2-year-old.

Lastly there was this: On the same day and at the same Pimlico track where Big Brown was winning the Preakness, Da' Tara was finishing a strong second to Roman Emperor in the Barbaro Stakes. Six years earlier a horse named Savara won the same race, then called the Sir Barton Stakes, and followed it up by winning the Belmont as a 70-1 shot, foiling War Emblem's Triple Crown hopes. Throw in trainer Nick Zito, whose Birdstone had knocked off Smarty Jones, the last previous Triple Crown candidate to get that far, in the 2004 Belmont, and there is reason to at least pause before dismissing Da' Tara as a potential Belmont winner.

To be sure, that is rather convoluted thinking, but that, as the song "Fugue for Tinhorns" in the musical "Guys and Dolls" indicates is the way some people pick winners. "I've got the horse right here, his name is. . . ." what? Da' Tara? Tiz a puzzlement.