Big Brown's Jockey Receiving Death Treats (Big Brown Drugged?)

[THUNDER HANDS]

I heard through the gravevine today that jockey Kent Desermoux (or however you spell his name) has been receiving death threats and that there's a possibility Big Brown was drugged prior to his race on Saturday. Apparently the horse was left unattended for an hour before the race and there's suspicion something could have been done with him.

That's just what I heard today from somebody in the know.

:tinfoilhat:

[Justpat]

1. This is absolute horseshit.

The horses are taken to a detention barn the day of the race about SEVEN hours before their
race where they are watched continuously by a uniformed guard and their groom. No horse is
left unattended during this time. And any drug given to a horse to effect its performance would
have had to be given close to the race.

I work at Belmont. All our horses, and all the horses on the grounds, go through the same
procedure on race day.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. I'm just saying what I heard

from someone who claimed to be a friend of Desormouex.

[Justpat]

3. That someone is a bad friend who gives bad information.

Please feel free to ask me anything you like at anytime regarding these kinds of issues.


If I don't know the answer to something, I'd say so. But my husband and I have
worked training horses since the mid sixties.

I just go nuts when I hear this innuendo being passed as legit information in racing.

For at least the last three years, no horse has entered any race in NY without having
first gone to the detention barn where it is monitored by the state vet and uniformed
guards.

And if Kent is receiving death threats, he should report them.

He is a good jock who screwed up royally on the most important race of his life.

[rocktivity]

5. So there's no reason to believe the jockey held him back due to his bad hoof?

If he's getting death threats NOW, imagine what would be happening if BB had suffered an even greater injury!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Justpat]

8. According to KD himself:

http://sportsillustrated.com/2008/more/06/09/desormeaux.dp/index.html


"That horse was in perfect condition and he never took a bad step."


In a sporting event where the public has wagered its confidence on you and your horse,
barring unsoundness, you owe it to the public to ride your mount to the wire
even if it is for a minor check.



Immediately after the race I was glad he pulled him up because I assumed that no one
would pull up a horse for no reason. But that is not the case here.

Dutrown was interviewed today by NY writer and stated that he had no idea why KD
pulled the horse up.

[Bunny]

6. Can you fill in the uninformed? How did he screw up royally?

I know nothing about horse racing, I was under the impression that he did good by pulling his horse up when he realized he couldn't win. I'd be happy to have an insider's input on this. Thanks!

[Justpat]

7. When he came out of the gate, he jerked the horse's head off

trying to get him to the outside, probably feeing that he would be pressured too much on the
inside. If someone like Jerry Baily or Edgar Prado had been on the horse they would have
sat quietly with a long hold until the right opening came up for them. Whether they moved
a hundred yards out of the gate or on the backside wouldn't have mattered. What would have
mattered was that they waited until the opportune time for them to move came on its own without
fighting with the horse or throwing him off stride to move to a different path.

KD said in his post race interviews that the horse was not unsound - he was just out of gas.

There was no unsoundness with this horse during the race. Mr. Dutrow and the owner have
publicly reported that all veterinary exams show nothing.

If the horse had bobbled or felt unsound in any way a jock needs to pull them up before
something happens. But in this instance, KD knew he had no horse and simply quit.

In the earlier days of racing, a jock would have been fined and suspended for not riding
his horse in an honest manner to the wire.

[Bunny]

9. Oh, okay now I get it. Thanks for the explanation.

[Justpat]

10. thanks for asking.

There are so many misconceptions here and on other boards regarding racing that I can't stand
it.

I will answer any question from anyone who wants to find out how things really are on
in this sport that I love.

There are a few others here too who are owners and breeders who are very knowledgeable
about racing and are often more articulate than me.

Just ask.

[TZ]

11. Very interesting OB...

Ironic considering how many people are hailing him as the "hero who saved the horses life".....

[two gun sid]

4. These rumors are craziness...

yesterday my own father was asking me if I thought there was any funny business going on. My Dad! "Hmmm....let's see...the race time favorite is beaten 2 out of 3 times over the entire history of the sport...nope. I guess he just wasn't the best that day is what I think, Pop." Poor KD. That race is gonna be like the '57 Derby was for Shoemaker. I know I've called jocks 'pinheads' and what not, but I really do respect them. They are braver than fuck and I'd hate to have to make the decisions they have to make while sitting on a TB at race speed.

[two gun sid]

12. Steve Crist had an interesting blog entry....

Big Brown's performance was a bit reminiscent of War Pass's last-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby just three months ago, where some argued he had been exposed as a pretender, others said there had to be a health-related explanation, and the whole thing remains a mystery, as it often does when a good horse runs a horrifically bad race. That race also came to mind since War Pass sure began the year as a likelier candidate than Da' Tara to put owner Bob LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito into the winner's circle after a Triple Crown race this year.

Two other races came to mind after the Belmont, ones involving previous skirmishes between the winning and losing connections. In the 2005 Woodward, Rick Dutrow ran two overmatched sprinters at Zito's Commentator to soften him up for Saint Liam. In the Wood Memorial two months ago, IEAH entered the rabbit Inner Light to wear down War Pass early for the benefit of their Court Vision. Both times it "worked" insofar as compromising Zito's chances. Zito never complained publicly about either incident, and I'm not saying he entered D'Tara and Anak Nakal in retribution, or instructed their riders to surround Big Brown on the first turn, but there was at least a pinch of karma involved in the way it all worked out.

http://cristblog.drf.com/crist/2008/06/brownout.html