The 2012 Belmont Stakes started out the place where we thought I'll Have Another might make Triple Crown history, and it ended the place where I'll Have Another ended his brilliant racing career much earlier than anyone would have anticipated, retiring on Saturday in a ceremony before the race. Now, according to the Throughbred Times, I'll Have Another is back in California, set for whatever the next stage of his life might bring. (I'm a relative horse-racing novice, but I'm pretty sure the next stage of a thoroughbred's life is usually "lots and lots of horse sex.")

It's a strange ending to the story, but considering the danger that comes with horse-racing injuries it's also a relatively happy one; I'll Have Another didn't break down on track, in front of 20 million fans on TV who watch three races a year—he simply came up lame before the race, and was pulled before things got any worse. With a horse in the Belmont Stakes undercard breaking down and requiring surgery, we were given a glimpse of the much-worse-case scenario.

More Belmont Stakes news:

• Union Rags and Paynter made the Belmont Stakes exciting even without I'll Have Another.