California Chrome Owner: Tonalist Took 'Coward's Way Out'

Let us just say that California Chrome's co-owner isn't taking his pony's lost Triple Crown bid lightly or gracefully. Immediately after his colt placed fourth in yesterday's Belmont Stakes, Steve Coburn blasted Tonalist as having taken "the coward's way out" to victory—that is, by virtue of not having run the Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes, the colt was running the grueling third leg in horse racing's Triple Crown on fresh legs. As long as horses are allowed to crash the party at the 11th hour, Coburn says, "I'll never see another Triple Crown winner." He added that California Chrome, on his third race in five weeks, just "didn't have it in him."

As USA Today notes, Coburn wasn't any calmer this morning, saying, "You might compare this to a triathlon. You know you've got to swim and you've got to bicycle and you've got to run. You don't make it to run if you're not going to do the other two." The Triple Crown, currently in the midst of a 36-year dry spell, has now seen 13 horses win the Derby and the Preakness only to fall in the Belmont, reports the LA Times. The AP, meanwhile, runs down five reasons why California Chrome might have come up short—including a small gash on his hoof. It also notes that none of the four horses who beat or tied California Chrome had run the Preakness. (More California Chrome stories.)