In 1997, starting out on his own, Dutrow bounced from one problem to the next. A girlfriend who had Dutrow's daughter was brutally murdered, and he had to go through legal channels to prove paternity and keep Molly, now 13, out of foster care.
At the time, he had little money. He spent most of that year living in a tack room in Aqueduct Racetrack's Barn 1, his life little more than a cot, a box of pizza and a lot of time to think. The period served as a warning, he says:
"I needed to go through that. And I loved every minute of it."
He slowly built a stable, inspiring confidence in any owner who would give him the time of day. He'd call them "babe" and they could see he had a special connection with the horses. Dutrow was finally focusing on the one thing he knew he could do right.
"I've always had confidence in myself around my horses," he says. And away from them?
"Not really, no. But I try to get the right people in place outside the barns where they can at least try to manage me."
High aspirations
Dickie Dutrow spent his career dealing with lower-level claiming horses. He never had one that raced in the Kentucky Derby. The Derby, in fact, was a world away from the small-stakes races Dickie dominated. "He could watch the Derby on TV," Dutrow says. "He would never say, `Let's fly to the Derby.' He'd rather be getting up, going to work."
But Rick Dutrow still dreamed about taking a horse to America's biggest race. He says that's why he went to New York and that's why he spent a year in that tack room.
Last fall, one of his owners scooped up Big Brown, a powerful 2-year-old, and Dutrow soon knew he had something special. Big Brown has raced only three times, but he has won those races by a combined 29 lengths.
There's a reason Dutrow has been smiling all week. He talks with a sense of certainty that is a rarity around the track.
"I'd never be able to talk like that, but I think it's exciting for the sport," says trainer Graham Motion. "I admire him for his confidence. But don't be fooled by that goofy demeanor of his. That's all an act. He's a very smart guy."
The fact that Dutrow is so sure of his horse is a big reason the betting odds favor Big Brown so heavily. Despite his past, Dutrow is respected, so when he says he has a horse capable of winning all three Triple Crown races, people pay attention.
