The petty thief in Rick Dutrow’s larcenous heart told him he could get away with stealing the Triple Crown. He knew the Big Brown that was heading into the Belmont Stakes wasn’t the same Big Brown who rolled in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. But the petty thief whispered, “So what, babe? Hey, he’s good enough to beat these chumps on three legs.”

The colt had inherited hoof problems from his sire, Boundary, and they were the reason that Dutrow had to nurse him as much as train him. Only three races heading into the Derby. No significant workout between the Derby and the Preakness. Then the quartercrack in the left front that had to be mended and patched in the days leading up to the Belmont.

When it was clear that he wasn’t going to be 100 per cent for the Belmont, his owner, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings (IEAH), should have ordered him scratched. The hell with the hype and hoopla. The horse comes first. Just ask Hidetoshi Yamamoto, the Japanese magnate who owns Casino Drive.

On the morning of the Belmont, upon returning to his barn after a light gallop, Casino Drive showed signs of soreness in his left rear hoof. It was a relatively minor problem. Yet Yamamoto opted to scratch Casino Drive, who was unbeaten and thought to be Big Brown’s main challenger, rather than take a chance.

This is what classy horsemen do. Unfortunately, nobody has ever used “class” in the same sentence with either Big Boastful – that would be the arrogant Dutrow – or IEAH, a mysterious consortium whose front man, Michael Iavarone, was temporarily banned from Wall Street for shady dealings in the late 1990s.

To be fair, Dutrow and IEAH aren’t the first to try to steal the Triple Crown with a less-than-healthy horse. Owner Frank McMahon did it in 1969 with Majestic Prince and Edgar Baptista did it in 1971 with Canonero II. Both horses had physical problems going into the race. But at the end, ego prevailed over common sense, and both colts paid the inevitable price.

In a wonderful bit of irony, the gods of racing smiled on another trainer who came up the hard way, as Dutrow did. Nick Zito grew up in Queens and dropped out of school to go to work on the race track. He had to scuffle and hustle and learn on the fly. He had to earn everything he got because nobody gave him anything.

But unlike Dutrow, Zito has class. When he reached the top, he celebrated every victory by thanking God, his mother, and everyone who had given him a hand up along the way. He was humble, grateful, respectful, and modest. He made friends everywhere he went – not only for himself, but for the sport.

It’s simply not in Zito’s DNA to guarantee a victory, to insult his fellow trainers and their horses, or to proclaim that victory in the Belmont is a “foregone conclusion.” He is a gentleman, always. The anti-Dutrow, if you will.

So yesterday, before a crowd of 94,476 and a worldwide TV audience, the horse that pounded down the stretch, all alone on the lead in the Belmont Stakes, wasn’t Big Brown but Da’Tara, a 38-to-1 shot trained by Zito. As Da’Tara hit the finish line 5 ¼ lengths in front, poor Big Brown was jogging along in last place, jockey Kent Desormeaux having pulled him up at the quarter pole.

“You gotta be humble,” Zito said. “There’s no question this game will humble kings. You want that quote, you got it. Before honor, there’s humility.”

At first, Dutrow wouldn’t talk to the media folks whom he had alternately fascinated and repulsed throughout the spring. This was hardly surprising. It’s what bullies and braggarts do when their bluff has been called. And that’s exactly what Big Brown’s Belmont bid was – a bluff, pure and simple.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas had it exactly right.

“I think they compromised his training schedule to adjust to the quartercrack,” Lukas said. “I think they thought he was good enough to overcome it.”

Only a fool – or somebody who has no respect for history – would believe that it’s possible to win the mile-and-a-half Belmont, the longest stakes race in America, with a horse that’s less than fit. The Belmont isn’t known as “The Test of Champions” for nothing. It puts a greater value on stamina than speed. If a horse is less than fit or healthy, it’ll be exposed somewhere along the way.

In other words, you do not steal the Belmont Stakes or the Triple Crown. They must be earned. Secretariat would not have won the 1973 Belmont by 31 lengths if he had been less than 100 per cent. Affirmed would never have held off Alydar in 1978 if he had been one iota less than 100 per cent. Of course, the owners of those immortals would have scratched their horses instead of trying to steal the race.

For Big Brown, the moment of truth came when Desormeaux prudently decided to pull him up instead of running the risk of breaking him down. It was the best decision to come out of the Big Brown camp all spring, and the entire sport owes Desormeaux a debt of gratitude. After the Eight Belles tragedy in the aftermath of the Derby, a crippling injury to Big Brown would have brought the sport to its knees.

“This horse was in no way, shape, or form lame or sore,” Desormeaux said, “but there is something amiss. He’s probably just tired.”

Considering the investment involved – IEAH already has worked out a deal with Kentucky’s Three Chimneys Farm to syndicate him for $50 million – tests will be run. It wouldn’t at all be surprising to see somebody produce an X-ray that indicates Big Brown suffered some kind of injury, or breathing problem, during the race.

That will give him the excuse he needs as he’s whisked off to the breeding farm, never to race again. That also will take Dutrow off the hook, except in the cynical minds of those who always will believe that Big Blowhard tried to steal the Belmont Stakes with a horse he knew was not himself.

The classy street guy won, the petty thief got humiliated. And the racing gods smiled, justice and history having been served.