Sitting in the Downtown Little Rock Marriott, which is undergoing a $16 million facelift, the crowd that had gathered in the areas around the TVs could easily be heard mixing conversations about New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the keynote speaker for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps awards banquet, and the Belmont Stakes.

There was plenty of time for conversation and most of the talk was about Brees, who was gracious, kind and almost shy during a meet-and-greet in which he had his picture taken what must have seemed like a thousand times.

It was a huge night in central Arkansas, the 300 athletes and coaches from across the state who were honored, and more than 1,000 who attended.

Still, yet another horse was trying to make history at the Belmont Stakes and, for the 12th time in 36 years, came up short as Tonalist -- who shares the Pulpit bloodline -- wrecked California Chrome's bid to win the Triple Crown.

Affirmed, in 1978, was the last horse to win a Triple Crown. The president was Jimmy Carter, the Dallas Cowboys had won the Super Bowl, and Sony had just introduced the hugely successful Walkman. Oh, and Alabama was the reigning college football champion.

Admittedly, and begrudgingly, California Chrome was the most popular horse since Secretariat. So there was disappointment, maybe even heartache, Saturday afternoon.

He surpassed even the humble beginnings of Smarty Jones, and you would have needed a shoehorn to get another person into Belmont Park as a nation watched on television.

Everyone knows the story. California Chrome's mom, Love the Chase, was bought for $8,000 and bred to Lucky Pulpit for $2,500. Now, $3,452,650 in earnings later, you have a great American success story. One that should be playing in theaters sometime next year.

Want to know just how much luck one has to have to be a millionaire Triple Crown contender? Matterhorn sold for $625,000, and he had won all of $62,102 going into Saturday's race. And now, he has made just $30,000 more after finishing eighth. The Triple Crown is an uphill battle that begins on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, moves to Pimlico for the Preakness and ends up at the top of the mountain in the Belmont five weeks after the grueling race for fame begins.

For some reason, which doesn't makes sense for horses who are just 3 years old, the Belmont is 1 ½ miles and the longest race of the Triple Crown.

Want to know how tough that last quarter-mile is? Go out and run 1 ¼ miles as fast as you can, then strap a 60-pound bag of concrete on your back and sprint the final quarter of a mile.

It is the test of champions.

Once again there were 10 contenders Saturday who knew the heartbreak history of the Belmont, and even if they couldn't beat California Chrome someone was going to get a $280,000 payday for second place. Obviously, others wanted to do all they could to keep trainer Art Sherman from doing something that they haven't been able to accomplish with more horses and a hundred times the money his owners spent.

That wasn't the case with Tonalist. He was the best horse Saturday. He was the one who ran California Chrome's race, coming just off the pace. He was supposed to be the speed, the rabbit that burned up the track for California Chrome, but instead he ran the smartest race and was rewarded with a $800,000 check.

Once again a nation hoped, and prayed, that California Chrome could get it done. But as long as horses aren't required to run a race within three weeks of the Belmont -- Tonalist had been off since May 10, a week longer than California Chrome -- there may never be another Triple Crown winner.

Sports on 06/08/2014