by Ray Kerrison, New York Post

They have destroyed the hopes of so many great horses over the years and they did it again Saturday when the gallant little bulldog hero of the Kentucky Derby, Mine That Bird, seemed all set to storm his way into history again with a thrilling Belmont classic.

For a moment, Calvin Borel looked as if he'd be the first jockey to win a personal Triple Crown with two horses.

Mine That Bird came flying down the center of the track after making what seemed a winning move, reminiscent of his electrifying stretch run in the Derby, and there could not have been anyone at the track or on TV who did not think that the Bird was going to do it again. He was on the wing with Borel aboard.

Then, in a flash, the Bird hit a brick wall, known as the last furlong of the Belmont. And that was the end of the dream, another fairy tale ground into dust, a hot favorite burning a fortune.

On his outside came a chestnut thunderbolt named Summer Bird, a virtual neophyte who had had only four lifetime starts, to run by them all and get the money at 11-1, another longshot in what has become a stream of longshots to win the Belmont in the past 10 years.

The result confirmed again: The Belmont is the most unpredictable big race on the American calendar.

As D. Wayne Lukas likes to say, "At the quarter pole, the gut kicks in on their pedigree." Or as Nick Zito says, "Some funny things happen in the last furlong of the Belmont."

Summer Bird made them look like prophets. Bred and owned by Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman, an Indian husband and wife medical team (he's a cardiologist, she's a pathologist, both retired) now living in Florida, Summer Bird won his second race out at Oaklawn, then was pitched into the Arkansas Derby, where he ran an excellent third.

He never got into the mix in the Kentucky Derby, where he was caught wide on all the turns and finished sixth. But Saturday, it was a whole different story.

"At the top of the stretch, I saw Mine That Bird run off and I thought I would never catch him," said Summer Bird's jockey, Kent Desormeaux. "But then my horse put his head down and took off. He really exploded."

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The Belmont was almost as big a surprise at the start as at the end. Dunkirk, thought to be a midpacker, was sent to the lead with Miner's Escape tracking him. Back in fourth was the horse everyone expected to lead, Charitable Man.

Races almost never seem to go as planned. Dunkirk set strong fractions — the six in 1:12.4 — which set the race up nicely for a closer like Mine That Bird or Summer Bird.

Dunkirk held gamely for second, a terrific effort, while Mine That Bird, after leading by a half at the furlong pole, gave way for third. Charitable Man, who never looked like taking charge, finished a distant fourth, seven lengths behind the winner.

Summer Bird's triumph was an ecstatic result for his 35-year-old trainer, Tim Ice, who is in his first season of training. Imagine! He's got a Belmont winner.

"No matter what happens," he said, "they can't take this Belmont away from me."

It might even have been a bigger gift to Desormeaux, who in a year has gone from bum to hero. Desormeaux was aboard Big Brown in that hideous episode in last year's Belmont, where he just pulled the hot odds-on favorite out of the race. This year, he's a winner.

"I have won three Kentucky Derbies, two Preaknesses and no Belmonts," he lamented during the week. After the race, he said, "Now I can go home happy. I feel I have filled in the gap. Now, I have won all three Triple Crown races.

Belmont saw another surprising winner cross the finish line first after Summer Bird's late rally Saturday. (Al Bello / Getty Images)

"I left the house this morning with a will to win this race, because it means beauty, class and elegance. I had an armchair ride."

But what happened to Mine That Bird? The post-mortems began almost before the horse crossed the line. His trainer, Chip Woolley Jr., thought Borel moved too soon.

"I'm not disappointed," Woolley said. "Calvin might have set him down a touch early, but that was a judgment call. I thought we were in good shape."

Borel saw it differently.

"We just got outrun," he said. "He ran like I thought he would. He tried his heart out. Don't take anything away from that little horse.

"He was kind of fighting me and we might have moved a tad early, but we made the lead at the sixteenth pole and I thought we were home free. We'll get 'em next time."

Famous last words: I thought we were home free. If I had a dollar for every jockey who thought he was home free at the furlong pole of the Belmont, I'd be a rich horseplayer.

That little stretch of real estate is a real killer. It always has been and probably we'll be saying the same thing this time next year.

Time: 23.410, 47.130, 1:12.430, 1:37.860, 2:01.660, 2:27.540.

$2 Exacta (4-2) Paid $121.00
$2 Trifecta (4-2-7) Paid $295.00
$2 Supertrifecta (4-2-7-6) Paid $852.00
$2 Pick 3 (2-5-4) Paid $2,577.00
$2 Pick 4 (4-2-5-4) Paid $17,085.00
$2 Daily Double (Brooklyn-Belmont 3-4) Paid $337.50
$2 Daily Double (5-4) Paid $152.50