"Indiana...Indiana...Let It Go"

There is a scene at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where our hero is trying to grab the Holy Grail before it is gone forever. In a touching moment, his father (played by Sean Connery) tells him to let it go. Fast forward 20 years and I've become Harrison Ford, long-time FMAD associate Black Man After Dark is Sean Connery, and the Holy Grail is the latest horse racing dynamo Big Brown. BMAD continues to convince me not to bet against Big Brown but I have no choice. I am Captain Ahab, that horse is my white whale, and we all know how this story ends: happily.

There has not be a horse racing Triple Crown winner in thirty years. To those not familiar, the Triple Crown is a series of three races held for 3-year old horses over a six week period every year. It starts on the first Saturday in May with the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville then goes to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes and ends with the Belmont Stakes, oddly enough held at Belmont Park in New York. To win all three races makes you immortal in the world of the ponies. Some horses have used those victories to find mainstream popularity such as Secretariat (1973 Triple Crown winner) and Seattle Slew (1977).

Since Affirmed in 1978, there have been several close calls but nobody has been able to seal the deal. This year Big Brown has trouced his competition in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Tomorrow he goes for immortality except he has to get through a host of new challengers, the grueling one-and-a-half miles of the race, and one large Italian gambler.

The American spirit that courses through my veins makes me support the underdog and root against the big favorite. Big Brown's ridiculously easy wins remind me of the Patriots last year, the cockiness that comes from crushing the competition even if the opponents were recruited from the local Sisters Of The Poor chapter. It's time to find our Fredo...err I mean Eli Manning and shock the world.

I was originally going to back Casino Drive, a Japanese horse with two impressive victories under his belt and excellent trainer and jockey connections, but I am given pause by this news from the Daily Racing Form website:

Casino Drive's status for Saturday's Belmont Stakes became uncertain on Friday after his connections noticed what they believe could be a stone bruise in his left hind foot. The horse will be evaluated throughout the day but a decision on his status for the race most likely won't come until Saturday.

Casino Drive's handlers noticed something amiss early Friday morning and decided not top send him to the track for training.

Even if Casino Drive does run, it appears as though he will not be at his best. I will certainly use him in my trifectas (bets where you pick the horses that will finish 1st, 2nd, and 3rd) but I am looking elsewhere for my key horse. Besides, as the second choice in the race with odds of 7-2, Casino Drive is no bargain.

UPDATE: Casino Drive was scratched from the Belmont Stakes this morning

Macho Again ran second to Big Brown at the Preakness and won a stakes race in Kentucky before that. His record is not perfect but he has been coming into his own in his latest performances. He also has a good trainer in Dallas Stewart and an excellent pilot in jockey Garrett Gomez. At 20-1 he will return a very sexy number if he can pull the upset.

I'm going to take a mythical $100 and recommend the following plays. Take this advice at your own risk.

THE BETS:
Note - the bets have been amended since the scratch of Casino Drive from the race

$30 to win on Macho Again

$10 to win on Da'Tara (***UPSET SPECIAL***)

$2 Exactas keying Macho Again first and second with Big Brown and Denis of Cork

$1 Trifectas keying Macho Again first and second with Big Brown, Denis of Cork, Tale of Etaki, Da'Tara, and Icabad Crane.

$1 Trifectas keying Macho Again first and second with Big Brown, Denis of Cork, and Icabad Crane