If you remember back to the Kentucky Derby on May 3 the media screamed “metaphor alert” when Big Brown beat the filly Eight Belles, who was tragically euthanized after the race. Hillary Clinton had been rooting for the filly and the latter’s untimely demise was ruefully remarked on as a sign of the human female’s impending doom.

Well Big Brown, the overwhelming favorite, fizzled in the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown’s trainer had previously remarked: “It’s a foregone conclusion. We’re running against not very good horses and he’s a very good horse.” Well, sometimes you need to run the race to find out the winner. It turned out Big Brown had nothing left when the chips were down and faded to last.

Okay, you get the point. And of course this race is no more predictive of the presidential race than the Kentucky Derby was of the Democratic primary. But two semi-serious points are worth noting. First, you see no  “Oh, no this is a sign” reaction from the media, which will no doubt ignore real signs, not to mention metaphorical ones. which might rain on their pro-Obama narrative. Second, you have to run races. Experts and odds are fun to follow, but life has a way of determining its own course. So the next time someone says about a political contest “It’s a foregone conclusion” or “It’s so-and-so’s year,” just say: “Big Brown.”