Big Brown Goes Down

If you paid any attention to the hoopla leading up to yesterday's Belmont Stakes, you know that a horse named Big Brown was supposed to win. In fact, the horse's trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., guaranteed that Big Brown would be horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. He said it was a "foregone conclusion."

Well, guess what. Big Brown did NOT win. In fact, he finished in 9th place. Now I'm not an expert on horse racing, but I'm pretty sure that ninth place isn't quite as good as first place. The winning horse, Da' Tara, was a 38-1 long shot. I think there are two morals to this story: (1.) It's okay to be quietly confident, but bragging about winning a race that hasn't even happened is pretty stupid. (2.) Although the odds may be against you, try anyway. You might just surprise everybody. Just ask Da' Tara.

For more of my thoughts about horses, read "Who Needs Horses Anyway?"