There doesn’t have to be a dark reason for Big Brown’s failure

Why the Belmont Stakes turned out the way it did remains a mystery. No one may ever know why Big Brown came up empty in his quest to become a Triple Crown winner.

Perhaps, it was the heat and humidity. Or the fact he was running for the third time in five weeks. Maybe it was the crack in his hoof and the track time it cost him in the days leading to the Belmont. There is also the possibility of some as-yet undetected problem, an issue that could surface days or weeks down the road.

There is also the possibility that Big Brown, who remains, on his best day, far and away the top 3-year-old in the country, simply had an off Saturday.

Without calling Big Brown great, let it be said that some of the legends of the sport did lose in spots where they seemed a lock. Upsets happen. Inferior horses sometimes defeat superior ones. The Belmont wasn’t the first case of this and it certainly won’t be the last. There isn’t a sinister explanation to everything in horse racing.

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Once around the track …

Some e-mailers have chided this writer for picking Da’Tara last in his graded handicap of the Belmont. Of course, none of the correspondence came before the race had been run. If faced with picking the Belmont again and with the belief that the real Big Brown would show up, I’d put the winner in the same position …

Da’Tara didn’t suddenly become a monster and move to a different level. He simply took advantage of Big Brown’s failure and a front-running trip against seven other mediocre – and that is being kind – 3-year-olds. He won despite weaving in and out approaching the wire and actually extended his lead through a final quarter of a mile that was run in 26.44 seconds. The win was uglier than Commendable’s in the 2000 Belmont …

Although foaled in Kentucky, owned by Robert LaPenta and trained by Nick Zito, Da’Tara does have ties to California. He’s a son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow and out of the California bred mare Torchera.

Bred by owners Pam and Marty Wygod, Torchera, a daughter of Pirate’s Bounty, won three of 15 and earned $122,150 during a racing career that ended early in 1997. Trained by Dan Hendricks, Torchera won for the last time in a state-bred allowance on Dec. 8, 1996 at Hollywood Park …

Let’s hope Big Brown does run again and return to top form during the summer, otherwise races like the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga or the Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. will be must-miss television …

Rafael Bejarano is far and away the most gifted jockey on the local circuit. Bejarano, who will turn 26 on June 23, has an opportunity to be one of the all-time greats if he stays healthy …

If Hollywood Park continues to race in 2009 and beyond, the track should run during the day each Friday preceding a Triple Crown event, not just the Kentucky Derby …

Belmont Stakes Day wasn’t a complete failure for the connections of Big Brown. Benny The Bull, arguably the country’s top sprinter and trained by Rick Dutrow Jr. for IEAH Stables, rallied in the closing yards to win the True North Handicap five races before the Belmont.

It will be much more exciting to see Curlin and Heatseeker, to name two, at Santa Anita this fall preparing for the Breeders’ Cup Classic than Casino Drive. While the colt has plenty of potential, he has only won two races against 3-year-olds. Let’s see how he fares when he tackles tougher, older competition …

Lava Man ran better than many expected with a game third in the Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap on Saturday at Hollywood Park. The 7-year-old deserves a shot at a fourth consecutive Hollywood Gold Cup win on June 28, but it is difficult to imagine him defeating Heatseeker.

 bob.mieszerski@latimes.com