Kent Desormeaux blew the Belmont.

RonBurgundy

The more I look at the tape, the more I am convinced Kent Desormeaux absolutely blew that race. He should've put Big Brown on the lead out of the gate, and engaged the entire field early on his terms. No horse other than maybe Denis of Cork would've had a finishing kick to keep up with him had he been sent to the lead. Instead, Desormeaux used him up and swung him six wide to get on the outside and then held him back when he wanted to run down the backstretch. When he finally asked him Big Brown said screw it, I wanted to run two furlongs ago.

You just watch, if they run this horse again like they plan to do he will devastate the field and it will become apparent. I don't think anything was physically wrong with this horse and the steroid talk is just a bunch of bunk.


Ron

stevek

<< <i>The more I look at the tape, the more I am convinced Kent Desormeaux absolutely blew that race. He should've put Big Brown on the lead out of the gate, and engaged the entire field early on his terms. No horse other than maybe Denis of Cork would've had a finishing kick to keep up with him had he been sent to the lead. Instead, Desormeaux used him up and swung him six wide to get on the outside and then held him back when he wanted to run down the backstretch. When he finally asked him Big Brown said screw it, I wanted to run two furlongs ago.

You just watch, if they run this horse again like they plan to do he will devastate the field and it will become apparent. I don't think anything was physically wrong with this horse and the steroid talk is just a bunch of bunk.


Ron >>



Couldn't agree more. This is nothing new to horse racing fans that Desormeax is a talented, yet gutless jockey. I don't think most people understand how choking a horse like that affects their performance during the race, plus all the ground he lost by going wide at Belmont.

Let's do some simple math - the "time honored" measuring stick for race horses is one second equals 5 horse lengths. Desormeax choked that horse guessing for approximately 2 seconds, which is ten lengths lost right there. And Ron correctly stated about the psychological factors involved with the horse. Believe it or not, I've witnessed some horses at the track get brutally bumped and it wakes them up and actually makes them run faster, but most horses, especially a young inexperienced horse such as this, react badly to being pushed around...it's not like they stop running, but they don't run as fast as the others who are in full stride - and looking at it from one second equals 5 horse lengths...it doesn't take any imagination to clearly understand what happened.

Kent Desormeax butchered the horse - case closed.

RonBurgundy

And Desormeaux blames the horse and the track....................



DAN PATRICK: Let's start with the pre-race. Did you notice anything with Big Brown?

KENT DESORMEAUX: Absolutely not, Dan. That horse was in perfect condition and he never took one bad step.

DP: When you were in the gate with this horse, were you thinking anything different than previous races?

KD: No, I was hoping for a nice, clean, pure break and I didn't get that. He slipped up front and kind of scrambled away from the gate and had already given up a length. That first quarter of a mile, that first turn could have been my demise. I had to rein him in, he was a little aggressive. Maybe it was too much time off. If he would have broke smart, my intent was to just wire the field. I thought the track was fast. I was hoping to break running and that didn't happen, I already had to call an audible. I reined him in. I actually was quite happy to get that position I was in, after we rounded into the first turn. But it took a lot of work to get it.

DP: If I said you could have a do-over with that horse, what would you do differently?

KD: Given the situation I was in, there's nothing I could have done differently. I would have only hoped to break smarter. If we do it over again 100 more times, he's probably going to leave three in front and all they would have seen was his tail. Unfortunately, you now, the race track lost its ability. They lost water for probably two hours. The track that usually a horse can get a hold of had dried out and gotten powdery. So it wasn't normal to say the least.

DP: Steroid factor -- did that have anything to do with that horse and how it ran or did not run on Saturday?

KD: No, absolutely not. You know, what steroids do is make a horse hungry and aggressive, and if you watch the race, he was definitely aggressive. And he never came out of the feed trough since they put him in the barn. All he does is eat. So I'm absolutely certain that steroids had nothing to do with it. The slippage, the first step out of the gate, probably was his demise.

Goot

<< <i>And Unfortunately, you now, the race track lost its ability. They lost water for probably two hours. The track that usually a horse can get a hold of had dried out and gotten powdery. So it wasn't normal to say the least.

. >>



My dad commented that the track looked like it had a sandy type surface before the race started. Anyone else notice this?

Dave99B

Lots of blame going around, but maybe Big Brown just sucked on Saturday?

90+ degrees? High humidity? Maybe the two previous wins took too much out of him?

Just a thought....

Dave

MAD

A simple yes or no question...

Is the Belmont the only race Big Brown (undefeated until then) ran without being injected with a dose of steroid?

If the answer is no then please be specific as to which race he won without steroids.

In order for something to be bunk then it needs to have no validity.

Marc

Mercury10c

You may be right Ron. This horse wanted to go to the front right out of the gate, Desormeaux held him back
and lost alot of ground going 5-wide. He may not have won the race, but he probably would of at least hit the
board.

Barndog

Kent Desormeaux no doubt made some money on that race

RonBurgundy

MAD -


To answer your question, no. He also ran the Preakness without his monthly steroid dose. And for what it's worth, according to veterinarians, steroids are used to keep up appetite and weight, not to build muscle, in horses. That said, they need to ban them and all other drugs and let them run on a diet of oats and water. It's ironic that since horse racing started allowing drugs for horses in 1979, there has not been a TC winner.




Ron

thegemmintman

Dutrow is hammering Desormeaux on his ride...


DRF Article



Dutrow said the plan for the Belmont was to go directly to the front, as Big Brown did winning the Florida Derby. After an eighth of a mile, Big Brown was third as Da' Tara went to the lead under Alan Garcia. Desormeaux attempted to get Big Brown off the rail, but first found Macho Again in his path, then Tale of Ekati and Anak Nakal.

Entering the first turn, Desormeaux took a hard hold of Big Brown and yanked him to the three-path, bumping with Anak Nakal before finding his running path outside of Tale of Ekati while Da' Tara opened up a three-length lead around the clubhouse turn.

"Getting the horse from the gate to the first turn like that is not the way to play the game," Dutrow said. "A lot of people say that it really confuses the horse. I'm sure he didn't have [any] idea what the hell was going on going into the first turn the way [Desormeaux] was switching him all over the damn track. I don't know what he was doing. Did he tell you what he was doing?"




Me thinks this colt will have a new rider soon

thegemmintman

<< <i>"For every superfecta player, for every show-bet player, they need to rest assured that the horse quit a quarter of a mile before I did," said Desormeaux, who added that he felt like he was taking care of the horse. >>





Thanks Kent. All that lost their hard earned bucks feel much better now that you explained it so well.

stevek

<< <i>Dutrow is hammering Desormeaux on his ride...


DRF Article



Dutrow said the plan for the Belmont was to go directly to the front, as Big Brown did winning the Florida Derby. After an eighth of a mile, Big Brown was third as Da' Tara went to the lead under Alan Garcia. Desormeaux attempted to get Big Brown off the rail, but first found Macho Again in his path, then Tale of Ekati and Anak Nakal.

Entering the first turn, Desormeaux took a hard hold of Big Brown and yanked him to the three-path, bumping with Anak Nakal before finding his running path outside of Tale of Ekati while Da' Tara opened up a three-length lead around the clubhouse turn.

"Getting the horse from the gate to the first turn like that is not the way to play the game," Dutrow said. "A lot of people say that it really confuses the horse. I'm sure he didn't have [any] idea what the hell was going on going into the first turn the way [Desormeaux] was switching him all over the damn track. I don't know what he was doing. Did he tell you what he was doing?"




Me thinks this colt will have a new rider soon >>




That's what I've been trying to tell ya all since 5 minutes after the race was over, and yes, that cements it that Kent will never ride this horse again.

stevek

<< <i>

<< <i>"For every superfecta player, for every show-bet player, they need to rest assured that the horse quit a quarter of a mile before I did," said Desormeaux, who added that he felt like he was taking care of the horse. >>





Thanks Kent. All that lost their hard earned bucks feel much better now that you explained it so well. >>




Wow, that's a dam nasty thing for a jockey to say about a horse - I don't think I've ever heard it phrased quite like that before. And Kent is blaming the horse for obvious mistakes he made - absolutely pathetic!

RonBurgundy

Get him off this mount and get Edgar Prado on this horse for the Travers. Please. Once he leads BB to big wins in the Travers and the BC Classic it'll become apparent what a disastrous trip Desormeaux gave him in this race.




Ron

MAD

<< <i>MAD -


To answer your question, no. He also ran the Preakness without his monthly steroid dose. And for what it's worth, according to veterinarians, steroids are used to keep up appetite and weight, not to build muscle, in horses. That said, they need to ban them and all other drugs and let them run on a diet of oats and water. It's ironic that since horse racing started allowing drugs for horses in 1979, there has not been a TC winner.




Ron >>




Ron --

Thanks for clearing that up. I was wrong and will defer to the group here.

My only thinking was, if you are doing something over and over and winning and then remove that from the pre-race preparation could that be a factor in a different result?

It is now obvious to me as all of you that the only factor to blame was in fact human factor and the jockey's handling of the race.

mad

stevek

<< <i>

<< <i>MAD -


To answer your question, no. He also ran the Preakness without his monthly steroid dose. And for what it's worth, according to veterinarians, steroids are used to keep up appetite and weight, not to build muscle, in horses. That said, they need to ban them and all other drugs and let them run on a diet of oats and water. It's ironic that since horse racing started allowing drugs for horses in 1979, there has not been a TC winner.




Ron >>




Ron --

Thanks for clearing that up. I was wrong and will defer to the group here.

My only thinking was, if you are doing something over and over and winning and then remove that from the pre-race preparation could that be a factor in a different result?

It is now obvious to me as all of you that the only factor to blame was in fact human factor and the jockey's handling of the race.

mad >>



I didn't go back and reread the posts, but I don't remember any post in my opinion technically being "wrong" - thoroughbred racehorses can be very temperamental and unpredictable animals even under the best of circumstances. Over the centuries they've been bred for speed, not bred to be a nice, well behaved pets. Inconsistency in thoroughbred racehorses is the rule, not the exception.

RonBurgundy

It's all coming out now.



Nice ride, Kent

thegemmintman

You have to read Wallace Matthews in today's Newsday. He spoke with Kent on the cell phone, and now Desormeaux is blaming the track surface ("he was too explosive for that track") claiming that Belmont never watered it down on Belmont day because the water was out at the track when in fact they watered it down between every race. They had four trucks with 18,000 gallons of water that they had ready to go before the racing day started.

You can't make this stuff up.