Belmont Flashback? No Way.

Have you ever seen such a bunch of tired horses? Palace Malice won but they were all lugging pretty hard down that endless Belmont stretch. There was certainly none of the grace and sheer poetry that defined Secretariat on the day of the 40th anniversary of his 31 length victory.

Old school or not, these horses do not have the stamina or the pedigrees of long ago when not only did they run 1 1/2 miles like it was a walk in the park, they ran races every two or three weeks. Perhaps this is where the drugs take their ultimate toll--on the off spring of those that are supposed to be able to run fast and far.

I am truly glad all the horses made it home safe and sound. You may not see Palace Malice run another race this year. That's how much I think this took out of him. And don't look for miracles from either Oxbow or Orb at Saratoga. These guys may not run (or win) again until the Fall.

How far we have come from the glory days of the sport.