Summer Bird

News came down today that Kent Desormeaux will be riding Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes. Summer Bird ran sixth in the Kentucky Derby under jockey Chris Rosier. Desormeaux has had two chances at the Triple Crown in the Belmont previously, losing by a nose in 1998 with Real Quiet and posting a DNF last year with Big Brown.

I think that Summer Bird is a live possibility in the Belmont Stakes for the same reason I like the chances of Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Belmont. Their Sire is Birdstone, who won the Belmont in 2004 and spoiled the Triple Crown that seemed destined to belong to Smarty Jones.

The addition of Desormeaux in the saddle (by the way, he will also work Summer Bird on Saturday) certainly will help even though the Belmont has never been Desormeaux's finest hour. I absolutely plan to have Summer Bird in the mix on Belmont Day. In fact, a Mine That Bird and Summer Bird exacta is not that big a stretch of the imagination. That could be a big enough bird in fact to qualify as a pterodactyl.

Tune in tomorrow for more from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone...GOODBYE!