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 Enlarge | By Jeff Haynes, Reuters | |
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"When he turned for home, I knew the game was over," said trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. "All we were doing was going crazy."
The still-unchallenged colt joined the filly Regret (1915) as the only starters since 1900 to earn the garland of roses in only their fourth career start. He and Clyde Van Dusen (1929) are the sole entrants in that same period to overcome the huge disadvantage of breaking from post 20, the farthest outside position.
The glow of his magnificent performance was dimmed, however, by the euthanization of runner-up Eight Belles after she collapsed following a valiant attempt to become the fourth filly to take the famed Run for the Roses. She had broken both of her front ankles.
"In my years in racing, I have not seen this happen at the end of a race," said Larry Bramlage, a veterinarian for the last 33 years. "There was absolutely nothing we could do. It would have been tough enough if it had been one. But it was both."
Triumphant jockey Kent Desormeaux said of the top two finishers, "(Big Brown) showed you his heart. Eight Belles showed you her life. I'm deeply sorry for that loss."
Keen interest in Big Brown and in Eight Belles, the first filly starter since 1999, helped produce a Churchill Downs crowd of 157,770 spectators, trailing only the record 163,628 fans who attended in 1974. They saw firsthand why the big-talking Dutrow had all but guaranteed victory beforehand.
"This horse will just overcome anything," he said. "He was just born this good."
The son of Boundary has overpowered his competition through four starts by a combined 33¾ lengths. He returned $6.80 for a $2 win wager. Denis of Cork closed stoutly to be third.
As if Big Brown was not impressive enough, Desormeaux proclaimed him as the best horse he's ever ridden for his combination of speed and intelligence. It is a huge statement since he was aboard previous Derby champions Real Quiet (1998) and Fusaichi Pegasus (2000).
"He's got the ability to have multiple gears," Desormeaux said. "I mean, this is only what Derby winners can do. They can move you into a position, and then cruise, and then take you to another position and then cruise again. That's what he does.
"What is the gear like? Every time I ask him, it's like leaving the starting gate again."
Big Brown used his high cruising speed to overtake most of the field by the first turn, then bided his time in sixth place through much of the run along the backstretch.
"I just left him alone and let him canter until I needed him," Desormeaux said. "I showed him the stick and – whoosh! – he puts me in a new position."
Big Brown's tour de force completed a stunning climb for Dutrow, 48, who was living in Barn 1 at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack, an aspiring trainer without a horse to his name. He admits to using marijuana and cocaine in those years and was someone who had lost his way.
He never lost faith in his ability to train horses, however, and he all but pleaded with owners to give him an opportunity to show what he could do. He began to gradually prove himself, and now ranks at the top of his sport after the resounding success of his first Derby starter, a burner who will be an overwhelming favorite in the middle leg of the Triple Crown on May 17 at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.
"I just kept wanting it," he said, "and now I want the Preakness."
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