Belmont and D-Day

She picked him in the Kentucky Derby, and Key Dear stuck with him for the Belmont and won! Summer Bird, the other son of 2004 Belmont winner Birdstone, beat Dunkirk and his half brother Mine That Bird to win the Belmont Stakes.

For a brief moment as the field rounded the turn into the stretch, Mine That Bird, who ran in last in the ten-horse field on the backstretch, made a sweeping move to vault into the lead past pacesetter Dunkirk with nothing but open ground in front of him. Dunkirk, however, dug in and did not let Mine That Bird run away uncontested, giving Kent Desormeaux and Summer Bird a clear lane on the outside to drive past the leaders to the line.

Summer Bird covered the distance in 2:27.54 on a track rated as fast for trainer Tim Ice, who picked up his first career graded stakes victory and only his second stakes victory in 15 months on his own following 15 years as an assistant trainer.

The win was sweet redemption for Desormeaux, giving him the Belmont victory he desperately wanted. Last year, he won the Derby and Preakness aboard Big Brown, only to have to pull up the colt in the Belmont. In 1998, he brought Real Quiet into the Belmont for a Triple try only to get beaten by Victory Gallop by a nose in a heartbreaking defeat. He was roundly criticized for his ride in that race.

Key Dear had Summer Bird picked to win, with Charitable Man, Chocolate Candy and Dunkirk. PopPop went with the D-Day theme and picked Flying Private, Brave Victory and Dunkirk. Mr. Bill had Chocolate Candy, Luv Gov and Dunkirk, and Logito had Miner's Escape and Flying Private. I had picked Mine That Bird and Dunkirk as my locks, with Chocolate Candy and Mr. Hot Stuff as my longshots.

The final order of finish was:

1. Summer Bird (4)
2. Dunkirk (2)
3. Mine That Bird (7)
4. Charitable Man (6)
5. Luv Gov (5)
6. Flying Private (8)
7. Brave Victory (10)
8. Mr. Hot Stuff (3)
9. Chocolate Candy (1)
10. Miner's Escape (9)

Key Dear had first, second and fourth, I had second and third — well, we all had Dunkirk doing well, and he did. Chocolate Candy was a disappointment, I thought he would do better. I still love Mine That Bird, but have to admit to a wee bit of schadenfreude about Calvin Borel. There's a difference between confidence and arrogance and he just got bitch-slapped by the fickle finger of fate.