Desormeaux flops again in 2nd bid for Crown
'I had no horse. We all knew that something was wrong,' jockey says
 Richard Drew / AP Big Brown's jockey Kent Desormeaux removes his helmet after his horse finishes last at the Belmont. |
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NEW YORK - His first Triple Crown bid ended by a nose. This one was over way before Big Brown closed on the finish line.
Ten years apart, the pair of crushing finishes stung jockey Kent Desormeaux.
“I think I’m numb, really,” he said. “A little lost. Just feeling no emotion whatsoever. Blank.”
Desormeaux added a second Belmont Stakes heartbreaker to his Hall of Fame career. A decade after losing aboard Real Quiet, Desormeaux failed in his shot at redemption Saturday and lost the Belmont aboard Big Brown.
No Triple Crown. No shot. Worst of all, nothing left in his spectacular horse.
Desormeaux and Big Brown failed in their bid to become horse racing’s 12th Triple Crown winner and finished dead last.
“I had no horse. He was empty,” Desormeaux said. “I couldn’t be fifth. We all knew that something was wrong.”
Dr. Larry Bramlage said the bay colt was healthy. That was about the only good news for Desormeaux, trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. and the owners of the colt after he finished way behind winner Da’ Tara, the longest shot on the board at 38-1.
Desormeaux hopped off Big Brown and quickly started looking for Dutrow.
“Where’s Dutrow? Where’s Dutrow?”
The two didn’t immediately find each other on the track.
They’ll be looking even longer for answers on what went wrong.
“This horse was in no way, shape or form lame or sore,” Desormeaux said. “But there’s something amiss, probably just tired. In the horse’s best interest, let’s get him back to the barn and recharge his batteries.”
Desormeaux desperately hoped he could erase 10 years of bad memories with a Triple Crown victory. He lost a Triple try in 1998, when Real Quiet was nosed out at the wire.
“This one would have been a life-changing experience if I won,” he said.
Desormeaux called Big Brown the best horse he had ever ridden, even better than Real Quiet.
He said there was no comparison between the horses in the two races.
“Any time I could be less than a length, I think there’s absolutely something I could have done different, and that one just ate me up,” Desormeaux said. “This will never eat me up.”
This time, Big Brown wore down at the 5/8 pole — or, about 100 yards before the final turn. The bay colt’s disappointing performance followed convincing victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
“If Big Brown was himself, he would have been tough to beat,” said Da’ Tara trainer Nick Zito.
A decade ago, still brimming with an attitude as much cocky as confident, Desormeaux rode Real Quiet to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Winning the Belmont and the Triple Crown appeared a mere formality, especially once the colt stormed out to a four-length lead on Victory Gallop.
Victory Gallop, though, caught Real Quiet in the final stride of a sensational stretch run and won by a nose.
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Different decade, same result.
“There’s no popped tires,” Desormeaux said of Big Brown. “He’s just out of gas.”
If Big Brown isn’t retired, Desormeaux plans to ride him at the Travers and then the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita in October. It seems hard to envision a circumstance after this Belmont flop where Big Brown will race again.
Desormeaux knew the Triple Crown would mean as much to his family as it would to his career. His youngest son, Jacob, was born with Usher syndrome, a genetic disorder that stole his hearing at birth and is slowly robbing him of his sight. There is no known cure and 9-year-old Jacob will likely be blind by adulthood.
Jacob has endured 17 major surgeries and hears through the use of cochlear implants, which generate signals that are sent to the auditory nerve in the brain and translated into sounds.
He has had nearly as many mounts as his dad the past five weeks, always taking a ride to the winner’s circle on an adult’s shoulders.
Desormeaux said life goes on as usual.
“Life throws curves,” he said. “Some of us hit them, some of us sulk around. We continue to hit the curveball.”
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