Big Brown did not win the Belmont on Saturday and failed in his effort to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. Maybe it was the tender hoof that we heard about or the stifling heat at the race track on Saturday. Big Brown never crossed the finish line. He was taken off the track and to the veterinarians where an examination showed no apparent physical problems. We will not know for sure why he did not finish but what we do know is that the coverage of the race by ABC turned the afternoon into "The Big Brown Show."

If you watched the television coverage leading up to the race you would have thought that Big Brown was the only horse running. ABC acted as if it were a foregone conclusion that the elusive Triple Crown would soon belong to Big Brown. What bothered me most about the TV coverage was that immediately after Da Tara won the race, the cameras continued to follow Big Brown and he was all the announcers were talking about. I wanted to see the winning horse who was a 38 to 1 long shot take his place in the winner's circle. The cameras finally did switch to Da Tara as they crowned him the winner but I thought too little too late.