With Kentucky Derby photo finish, Sierra Leone trainer Chad Brown sees another tough loss

LOUISVILLE — Sports, that sprawling beast capable of dispensing joy and meanness in near-equal portions, seems to have it out for one trainer from New York when it comes to the Derby from Kentucky. Maybe it resents his Cornell degree.

At his Churchill Downs barn Sunday morning, Chad Brown spoke of the inches, and how the inches govern fates almost as if they’re giggling while they do it — and how the inches are everywhere, even if they come in the form of a horse’s nose, the margin of defeat on Saturday.