Commendable was able to win the Belmont even though he had finished out of the money in his previous six starts. His only previous victory had come in a maiden race, and the same was true of the second-place finisher, Aptitude.

Of course, horses do sometimes improve suddenly and unexpectedly. Charismatic had a dismal record until last spring, but he blossomed into a genuinely good horse in time for the classics.

But the time of the 132nd Belmont suggests that Commendable didn't exactly blossom; he won by default. His time of 2 minutes 31 seconds for 1½ miles was the slowest Belmont since 1970 and the slowest over a fast track since 1952.

Although the racing strip was a little dull compared to recent years, another race on Saturday's card put the Belmont into perspective. A field of high-priced claiming horses covered the same distance in 2:31 1/5 - just one tick slower than Commendable.

The Belmont winner benefited from a slow early pace, as jockey Pat Day positioned him just behind a leader who was running the first half-mile in a moderate 49 1/5 seconds.

Trainers and jockeys of the losers blamed the pace for their defeat. Bobby Frankel, the trainer of Aptitude, was angry that jockey Alex Solis let his horse drop so far behind the leaders in the early stages. "I thought he'd be a little closer, to be honest," Frankel told the Daily Racing Form. "He let him come out of there and relax too much - and it was over."

Indeed, horses coming from far off the pace rarely win the Belmont and Aptitude didn't have to be at the rear of the 11-horse field. He was as far behind the leaders after the 49 1/5 half-mile in the Belmont as he was in the Derby, where the first half mile was run in 45 4/5 seconds. Yet even though Aptitude was being asked to make up a lot of ground (as were the stretch-runners Unshaded and Impeachment), he had every opportunity to do so. He wasn't trying to catch Seattle Slew, after all. Commendable was slowing down, running the final half-mile of the Belmont in 52 seconds. A good horse should have been able to make up 10 lengths and overhaul him.

The performances by Aptitude and the rest of the Belmont field were so uninspiring that the first two legs of the Triple Crown may need to be re-evaluated.

The racing world hailed Fusaichi Pegasus as a superstar after he won the Derby by beating Aptitude by 1½ lengths. Red Bullet's reputation rests on his Preakness victory over Fusaichi Pegasus and some of the Belmont also-rans, as well as a pair of decisions over Aptitude earlier in the spring.

One observer dubious about these colts' lofty reputations was Wayne Lukas, the trainer of Commendable.

"I saw a horse win a Derby by a length and a half; I didn't see the invincible horse we put on that pedestal," Lukas said. "I thought Red Bullet was a horse for a day. He ran a beautiful race [in the Preakness]. Right spot for the right time."

Lukas's restrained assessment might be correct, but it is still possible that Fusaichi Pegasus and Red Bullet do belong on a pedestal. With almost no seasoning as a 2-year-old, Fusaichi Pegasus advanced from maiden company to the Kentucky Derby in four months, during which he won five straight races. Few horses have come so far so fast to win at Churchill Downs. It is no surprise, and no disgrace, if he tailed off after the Derby, but he should be a formidable competitor after he gets a rest this summer.

Red Bullet, too, developed into a classic winner in an extraordinarily short period of time, beginning his career in January and winning the Preakness in his fifth start. He's still just a neophyte; he hasn't begun to show how good he might be.

Trainer Joe Orseno may run his colt in three major stakes this summer - the Dwyer at Belmont, the Haskell at Monmouth and the Travers at Saratoga. Neil Drysdale may wait till fall to gear up Fusaichi Pegasus, with the Breeders' Cup classic his main objective. By November the racing world will be able to deliver a definitive judgment on these 3-year-olds, and it is likely to be a positive one.

In the case of Commendable, however, it is possible to formulate an immediate judgment. Unless he can find another group of rivals as slow as the ones in the Belmont, he has had his lone moment of glory.