Bright Career

Coming around the far turn, Calumet's great colt Tim Tam was making his move. The Belmont Stakes, brightest jewel in the Triple Crown of the turf, seemed safely in the bag. Bets on the odds-on favorite seemed safely in the bank.

After winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Tim Tarn figured to take the Belmont in a walk. Last hope of the hunch players was a barrel-chested Irish colt named Cavan, who had come from nowhere to win the Peter Pan Handicap just the week before. And suddenly it was Cavan who was getting a call. Aboard the favorite, worried Jockey Ismael Valenzuela went to the whip. Tim Tarn wobbled badly. His fine stride suddenly looked awkward; he was in trouble. Snug on the rail, Cavan was reaching out and running away. The liver-colored Irish import breezed under the wire with ears pricked, winning by an easy six lengths.

Behind him, Tim Tam hung on to second. But Jockey Valenzuela was no longer punishing his mount. The lame favorite finished under his own courage, and his jockey dismounted far down the track rather than make him carry weight a step more than necessary. Later, after an ambulance had helped him to his barn, X rays showed that Tim Tam had chipped a bone in his right foreleg. The Triple Crown was gone; his brief, bright career was probably over.

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