Was the Belmont Fixed?

Question

It seemed that Big Brown could've easily opened up and looked like K. Desmormeaux actually was holding him back. My wife who's a horse trainer was screaming LOOK! LOOK! he's pulling him back! She started yelling Fixed! Fixed! After analyzing it on Tivo she was convinced it's fixed. Thoughts?

Answer 1

Um, Kent pulled up the horse in the stretch... yes he was pulling him back.  But the horse wasn't offering any more run around the final turn.  The horse had nothing.  Whipping him onward wouldn't have accomplished anything.  Kent loves that horse... he didn't want anything to happen to him.  He wanted to save him for future races.  It was a completely legitimate decision.  It was not fixed.

Answer 2

The race was fixed. Big Brown an overwhelming favorite is pulled up by his jockey while the longest shot in the race glides to victory. This is a black eye for horse racing and a disgrace to the sport. I have many relatives in New York who assure me the fix was in.

Answer 3

The race wasn't fixed, Kent pulled him back because Big Brown was rank and would have run over the two in front of him.....but his decision to swing out and run 7 wide outside of Tale of Ekati......that was just stupidity, not fixing, there are easier ways to fix a race.

Answer 4

Hmm. I'm not really sure, although something was definitely up. I heard he hurt his foot, but he did not look injured AT ALL. The jockey was holding him back, because I believe the jockey thought something was wrong with him. So either the race was fixed, or Big Brown just wasn't "big" enough to win the Belmont.

Answer 5

I agree with you 100% and I think a lot of money was riding on this race, for Big Brown to loose.  Just think how much the track would have to pay out if Big Brown won the race.  However, because Big Brown lost the race the pay out would not be as much or little at all, considering no one saw this coming.  There is so much deception in the air today and this is another reminder of the truth.  What is the truth?  Money is more important then anything in this world today!!!  Money my friends.............Money............!

Answer 6

are you kidding?  watch the replay again.  had desormeaux not rated the horse when he got in traffic, he would have crashed and or been disqualified for interference. he started to pull up in the stretch because the horse was just plain washed out.  he had asked him 3 times to run and the horse would not.  he made the best possible decision for the horse.  a real horseman does whip his horse into a last place finish.  there was just no junk in the trunk.  there was no horse left to finish the race.  this horse is valued at 100 mill.... even a horse valued at 1$ should be treated the same way.

edit ***bcb079...when is the last time you had to parade a horse around in front of millions of tv viewer and spectators, knowing it was the biggest race of your life.  think you might have broken a sweat?  not even to mention the 90plus degrees outside.

Answer 7

Did anyone notice the owner's Shirt  SOAKED  wonder from what?  Nerves  Cheating  guilty conscience....The Japanese people took their horse out of the race because they are honest and they saw the fix was in  cmon people  They all got paid off !  Bet the house on it!

Answer 8

Definitely fixed. The jockey lost the race. Maybe he loved the horse too much but this was a once in a lifetime chance for history and he blew it. Also, this was a slow race for Belmont and none of the other contenders were even close. A $78 win ticket????

Answer 9

In absolutely NO way do I think the race was fixed. Something was wrong with Big Brown. I could see it by the way he was acting.

As for the question bcb079 asked in another post in this thread: i.e. "Did anyone notice the owner's Shirt SOAKED wonder from what? Nerves Cheating guilty conscience...",

Yes, I noticed it. But the temperature was in the low 90's (91, I think) and Dutrow was just sweating from the heat.  I live in Florida and know what 91 degrees feels like. I'm female and even I sweat in that kind of heat, leaving my blouse and hair drenched.

I highly doubt Dutrow has anything about which to feel guilty!

Oh, yes ... Dutrow is not the owner. He's Big Brown's trainer.

Klea