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134TH KENTUCKY DERBYMay 3, 2008Kent DesormeauxRichard Dutrow, Jr.Michael IavaroneCHURCHILL DOWNS, KENTUCKY THE MODERATOR: Kentucky Derby winning trainer, Rick Dutrow, Junior. Three starts coming into the race, first horse since 1915 to win the race off just three starts, and the first horse to win from the 20-hole since 1929, and Rick Dutrow's first horse to end the Kentucky Derby and he wins it. Everything you believed came true today, didn't it. RICK DUTROW, JR.: Well, the only reason I didn't said what I said is because they asked me the questions, and Big Brown was telling me how to answer the questions. THE MODERATOR: Sliding in next to Rick is Mike Iavarone of IEAH Stable, of the winning owners. Just talk a bit about the race, breaking from the outside, your horse broke nicely, laid back off the pace, just galloped around there, and when he was asked, took off. RICK DUTROW, JR.: It was just the way we envisioned things happening, when we had a decision to draw 18, 19, 20 or the 2 inside, we figured, hey, let's give our horse a chance to win the race, and he gets one of those inside posts, maybe somebody breaks sharper, comes over, with the outside post, we were guaranteed a good trip, and Big Brown puts himself wherever he wants to be in the race, and that's what he did today, and Kent gave him a very good ride. That horse settled nicely for him, and just every inch of this race was to our liking today. THE MODERATOR: Was there ever a point at any point where you were concerned? RICK DUTROW, JR.: Well, I've got to say, going down the back side, I didn't know what Kent knew at that time, and he was laying like fifth or sixth and there was some horses going on the inside that looked like they were moving up on him, and I got a little bit nervous at that point. But Kent knew that he had plenty of horse underneath him, and he just bided his time. It was all good, Brown showed up. THE MODERATOR: Mike, you had two horses in the race, but here you are, and your first Kentucky Derby, and the easiest of victories, talk about how it feels sending the unbeaten horse to victory. MIKE IAVARONE: The reality is just starting to set in. I knew all week being around the horse he was going to run a big race, he was cool, calmed and collected and has not missed a beat since the Florida Derby in his training. And I was just breathing off of Rick's confidence and his confidence. I turned to Rick and said, "Is he too far back?" And Rick said, "He's perfect." I've got to go with what Rick says now; Rick's word is God for me. THE MODERATOR: Kent Desormeaux has joined us. He was won his third Kentucky Derby and is now one of five jockeys with three victories in the Kentucky Derby. Pretty good territory. You, like Rick, were so confident in this horse; talk about the trip. KENT DESORMEAUX: Well, I had a beautiful, uneventful trip. I think that, you know, at the draw, he said, 20, and I'm thinking, wait up, you know, there's a couple holes that are open, but this is the perfect horse for the hole -- I mean, the perfect starting gate position for him, because we were dreaming of this happening, just an uneventful cruise down the front side the first time, and that's what I got. No distractions, no alterations in course, just slide over. And he did it so within himself. He truly was in a gallop to the quarter pole. That's his maximum cruising speed. That's how we were going and he added power to the stride when I needed it. THE MODERATOR: Making the big move around the 3/8ths pole, you knew you had plenty of horse; was there anybody coming at you at that point that you were worried about? KENT DESORMEAUX: I had a trainer tell me this once, and it kind of played in my head. Going down the back side, I didn't know if I had any horse. He was just galloping, floppy-eared, off the bridle, cruising, and the guy told me that's the difference between good guys and bad guys. A bad guy would have told him to make sure he had some horse. I just left him alone and let him canter until I needed him and when I needed him, I showed him the stick, and whoosh, puts me in a new position and I pulled him back and made him wait in his position. I made two moves, a move going into the turn and then I let him cruise from the 3 to the 5/16ths and then I made another move again and then I showered on him at the 3/16ths hole. THE MODERATOR: You said coming into this race that you were as confident about your chances on this horse as any other; I'm not asking you to compare this horse to those horses, but what about the future with this horse? He's unbeaten; how far can he go? KENT DESORMEAUX: Well, you saw it. I don't need to make any -- I don't have to make any observations at this point. I mean, I'll let him show you on the racetrack. Q. You were very confident before, almost predicting a victory; can you talk about, are you willing to say this horse is going to win the Triple Crown? RICK DUTROW, JR.: I've got to say, that his next race coming up is out of my hands, because it's coming back in two weeks. I'm not going to have a chance to train him. I'm just going to kind of play around with him. I don't even know when I'm going to ship him there. But the timing is not good for me. I know he looks like he's the best horse of his crop, but still he's got to go over there in two weeks and has to show up there the right way again. There's going to be some new horses, I don't know what post he's going to get, that kind of stuff. I don't think I'm going to feel as confident, because I really love training a course for a trace. I can't do it now. My hands are tied. Q. Do you think this horse can and will win the Triple Crown? KENT DESORMEAUX: You know, I think you're going to have to see if he stops eating when he gets to the bottom of his tub. Talent-wise, he's the best horse I've ever ridden. Q. I know that racing sponsorships and jockeys wearing advertising has been something that you have kind of been a pioneer of. Just wonder if you can talk a little about being in this position and being able to do something like that. I notice the UPS hat that you're wearing, just talk about that, especially going into this race, I noticed that you had the UPS. KENT DESORMEAUX: I think we should all thank Churchill Downs and the racing for letting corporate America play, because you know, I think hands-off to the jockeys, because we gave all the money back, and we raised $600,000 for the Disabled Jockeys Fund. And Casner came on board and matched it, and NetJets matched the additional offers. I just think that when we put household names on the race that people can relate to, the next thing you're going to see is Nike and whatnot or Budweiser and whatnot and people will start to get a relationship to racing because it's household names. I'm so thankful that UPS, NetJets, corporate America came on to racing, because it's going to help racing stay vibrant. Q. It's a strong statement to call this the best horse you've ridden; can you elaborate on why you feel so strongly about this horse? KENT DESORMEAUX: I've had some horses equally as fast. Pegasus was fast. Afternoon Delights was probably the fastest I've ever rode, but he didn't have the stamina this guy has. And the difference between him and Pegasus was the precociousness. This guy, he will stand like a statute if I want him to. You saw what he did in Florida. I mean, I was 12-wide so I said, "Hey, big boy, let's go," and he took off, cleared the field and came right back to me. He's intelligent. That's the difference. That's what makes him the best now that I've ever ridden. He's got the talent, he's got the brain, and this camp on the end, he's the trainer, he taught him how to be a race horse, so I think he has a lot to do with why I find him my best horse and favorite and fastest horse I've ever ridden. Q. When you were galloping back, were you aware that Eight Belles was on the track and had fallen? Did you gallop by her? KENT DESORMEAUX: You know what, yes, I was, and I want to say that right now, I think this horse, he showed you his heart, and Eight Belles showed you her life for our enjoyment today. I'm deeply sympathetic towards that team. I'm very sorry for their loss. Q. The last turn it seemed like Big Brown hit an extra gear and shot from there. With this horse, is it just a matter of time in races until that gear kicks in, and then tell us about that, how he burst out like a rocket at the end. KENT DESORMEAUX: Well, he's got the ability to have multiple gears. 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. Q. You said this is the best horse you've ever ridden, and you've mentioned Pegasus; what does this horse have that Real Quiet did not have? KENT DESORMEAUX: Speed. Real Quiet did not have speed. He would never have won a six-furlough race, and he didn't. This horse could win tomorrow if I needed him to. Q. Have we seen the best of this horse yet? RICK DUTROW, JR.: I hope not and I hope we don't have to see any better than what we saw today. I don't know if we've seen his best. I knew he was sitting on a race, so all he needed to do was light the track because he had been training lights out. He ate every oat we've given him since his last race. He met every breeze like clockwork, timing between every breeze, timing in between his last race to this race. He never sweated, at all, during the whole time I trained him for this race on the plane, on the van, coming to a new place. Just a pleasure to be around. You cannot imagine how lucky we are to have this horse. Q. So Rick, let's be honest, you put a hundred grand on Big Brown? RICK DUTROW, JR.: You know what, I'll never bet on this horse. I've never on him and I never will. The reason why I didn't bet on him is it's the Kentucky Derby and I didn't need any extra incentive. Q. Again on the turn for home, when you looked at his position, did you realize he was about to fire himself out of the cannon, and tell us about the final burst that he seems to have. RICK DUTROW, JR.: Well, when he turned for home, I knew the game was over. All we were doing was going crazy. I mean, you know, it's just so exciting to us. You just grab ahold of things, turning for home, you could see no one was going to catch him, so we were going crazy. You know what, if he would have raced like this and you can't get like we are, you don't belong in this game. This is the most exciting thing we've ever been around, and we showed it. I think he was born like this. I think he just separates himself from the rest. Somebody else is going to have to show up and show that they can run with him and I'm sure there's a horse or two out there that is going to make him run, but he was born to run, born with this talent. Again all we have to do is stay out of his way, just not do anything stupid around him, and he'll run like this again. Q. Mike, could you talk about your first look at this horse, your first impression of him, and how you came to put in the offer for him? What was the origin of it. MIKE IAVARONE: Well, I saw him on TV. I was watching races from Sarasota on TV and I saw this two-year-old I had never heard of before streak across the line in front of everybody in a turf race like that, and I called up Rick who was probably sleeping at that point and I said, "I think there's a horse that we need to buy." So I think I had to get him out of the refrigerator or wake him, but he said, "I've got room for him." Negotiations were challenging. We were probably up against some deeper pockets, but we offered Paul to stay in a piece of the horse, and I think inevitably, that's what allowed us to make the deal happen. Q. There are four partners in the horse; could you name them, please? MIKE IAVARONE: Well, it's IEAH Stable, Paul Pompa, Gary Tolchin and Andrew Cohen. Q. Was it a stretch to nominate him for the Triple Crown considering you didn't even train him in January and how significant is it for this horse to do that? MIKE IAVARONE: Any time you have a two-year-old that's precocious and runs big around two turns, it's not an expensive proposition to go and make them Triple Crown eligible, so we didn't see that as an issue. We went on and did it with the hopes that he could transform his turf to the dirt, and stay sound enough to get us in this position now. Q. How significant is it that this horse won the Kentucky Derby considering you didn't train him in January? RICK DUTROW, JR.: Well, I'm going to let all the experts figure that out. I just know it's absolutely unbelievable that he could make this race when he didn't even go to the track in the month of January. Just incredible. When he won that Allowance race off such a short schedule, I called Bobby Frankel after the race and I said, "Bobby, you are not going to believe the schedule for this horse running this race." Kevin McLaughlin came by the next morning, I showed him on the charts, it's just unbelievable. He almost bought the horse before Mike did. This course will overcome anything. He's just born this good, and we're lucky to be with him, and we're not doing anything stupid around him so, he's going to keep running big. Q. Can you talk about how Kent came to be on the horse and why you like him as a jockey for the horse? RICK DUTROW, JR.: Well, is it okay if Mike answers that? (Laughter). MIKE IAVARONE: I think Kent got me drunk one night. That's the truth. (Laughing). No, actually I obviously have relationships with many jockeys, and Kent had really gone down on his belly for us over the last year and ridden really hard. We went out for dinner after Benny the Bull won the Sunshine Millions and he said, "When are you going to put me on a good one?" At the time, Big Brown was still struggling physically and I said, "I might do something personal for you." I spoke to his agent the next day and said, I'll give you the opportunity to ride him but you have to commit to ride him through the Triple Crown. Mike Slato (ph), he imagined that he would do that and that's what put us in the position we are now. Q. Could you reflect a little bit on how far you have come? RICK DUTROW, JR.: I don't know if my words are good to explain that. Even though I was going real bad at the time, I felt good. I was with my horses and I was in the game, so I felt good about it. I really did. You know, I'll go down and saw and sleep any minute, it wasn't degrading for me, it was something I had to go through to get to where I am and every inch of it was fun. When you go after something, and you keep striving to get it, I mean, you're after it, and your mind keeps going in that direction. You want it, you want it, you want it, and I just kept wanting it. Now I want the Preakness. Q. As he was coming down the front stretch and Eight Belles came up and was challenging to the finish, can you just talk about what you saw and just comment a little about what happened to her? RICK DUTROW, JR.: I just saw Brown kicking ass through the lane. That's all I saw. I didn't see who was second, third, doesn't matter. We were here for our horse and I was just watching him and I was around all of my people while we were watching this, and by the time he hit the wire, I mean, my hair was all messed up. That's just how we do it, you know, leave everything there, just like Brown does. Q. Just any sympathy you might have for that team? RICK DUTROW, JR.: Look, I love horses, that's why I'm in this game. I love the competition and I love horses more than anything. There's no way that anybody would want to do what I do; I love the horses. So any horse that happens to, it really -- I mean, Molly was at the Breeders' Cup last year when that horse broke down and had to be destroyed and Molly was crying and crying and crying. I mean, we love horses, all of us do. If you don't love horses and you're in this game, get out. Q. Just to follow up on what you said about Kent, I guess kind of what I'm wondering, what is it about his personality or his riding style that makes you guys want to put him on this horse; and also, the fact that he would commit to a horse through the Triple Crown -- what does that say about him as a rider? MIKE IAVARONE: Kent is a money rider. When the money is on the line, Kent is there. He's definitely strong. He's aggressive. He's very hungry still and I thought he'd fit the horse well. Q. When you talk about things falling why are way in the Derby, if in February if that Allowance had not come off the grass, do you think you still would have gotten here to the Derby, or do you think you would have kept Big Brown on grass? RICK DUTROW, JR.: You know what, if they would have kept it on the grass that day and he would have won on the grass, most likely we would have run him in the Bluegrass, and he would have won that race. Q. You said at the barn you were going to party and have fun. Now that it's sunk in, is it everything you thought it was? Just kind of talk about that. RICK DUTROW, JR.: It's an exhilarating feeling. I've got to tell you, I don't even know what we just did. I don't -- I mean, I don't know how to answer that question. I can't express my feelings, only that it's one of the most incredible feelings I've ever felt, and I can't wait to feel it again. That's why we are in this game, not for the money; for the horses and the feeling it gives you when you win. THE MODERATOR: On that thought, we'll say congratulations, gentlemen. End of FastScripts |
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