to win by a head. neither had run in the first two races, the kentucky derby and the preakness. the third place finisher didn t run in the preakness ever. it s not fair to these horses that have been in the game since day one. i look at it this way, if you can t make enough points to get into the kentucky derby, you can t run in the other two races. it s all or nothing. it s all or nothing because this is not fair to these horses that have been running their guts out for these people and for the people that believe in them, to have somebody come up this is a coward s way out. a coward s way out he calls it. now, look, this injury might have played into it as well. california chrome s front right hoof there. people are not happy, particularly that owner. senior correspondent richard roth was at the belmont for the running. richard? we understand that just last hour coburn doubled down on this position, this talk about the
coward s way out requiring all these horses to run all three. reporter: this morning on nbc s today show coburn repeated his thoughts last night right after the race. so he s not backing down. however, just a short time ago at belmont park, the trainer of california chrome, art sherman, was more generous indicating that perhaps his owner was speaking a little bit in the heat of the moment. let s listen. i think at the heat of the conversations with the press and everything sometimes you might get a little vocal and not really think about what he s saying. i think mr. coburn was mad because the other horses got a break, to be away for six weeks and freshening up from their last race, you know what i mean? he says, well, if you want to run in the triple crown, you should run in all races like the rest of us. reporter: sherman indicated
perhaps there would be a press release, maybe an apology from coburn. no indication of that, christi and victor, so far. horse racing needs a little controversy. you can say it s nothing bad right now for the industry because there s so much disappointment about california chrome. i heard you say, victor, we thought this would be the horse. i ve seen seven other horses fail at the belmont in the last 17 years. it s amazing. there are people with the nose strips, the nasal strips that california chrome they were hoping for it. richard, thank you so much. thanks, richard. new this morning, we re getting new developments, and they re pretty dramatic. details about sergeant bowe bergdahl and his family. first of all, an fbi special agent tells cnn the bureau is looking into threats made against bergdahl s parents. we re learning more about bergdahl s capture by the taliban and how he s doing right now at that military hospital in germany. the new york times is also reportin