There were approximately 737 fifths of a second run in the Belmont yesterday and the second place horse was only one (1) behind the winner. Putting aside all of the numeric theories that were advanced before the race, none of which led to the winner's name, I have to ask myself whether the outcome could have been different if the human connections would have done things differently than they did.

In other words, could the horse have been ridden differently in order to find that fifth of a second?

The same thought went through my mind, as John Servis', when I saw SJ accelerate on the backstretch. Uh oh, not now.

It was Real Quiet all over again.

Elliott may not have done a drunken cowboy turn the way Desormeaux did, but it didn't matter. He shot his load the same way and while blame can't help at this point, there really isn't anyone to praise, so why not?

This horse was trained well enough to run the Preakness all over again, judging how he buried the rest of the field, but his jockey cost him the race. Switch the jockeys in this case and you switch the outcome.

Edgar Prado completes the Triple Crown if he is riding SJ.