LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- His face completely flush, sweating adrenaline and crying euphoria, Rick Dutrow moved through the crowd like a child on the monkey bars, swinging from hug to hug. There was no break, no time to think and no cause to reflect.
"We did good, babe," he cried, his arms wrapped around another dark-suited well-wisher. His colt, Big Brown, did everything Dutrow thought he would, staging such an impressive win in the 134th Kentucky Derby that all the Triple Crown buzz these next two weeks will be more than justified.
Not far away, still on the track, near the first turn, there was another trainer and more hugs and more tears. Larry Jones' filly finished second, but Eight Belles broke down and had to be euthanized right there, not far from the celebration. "She ran the race of her life," Jones said later, choking back his emotions.
The line separating triumph and tragedy at the track had never felt thinner. The second-place horse heading for an autopsy, the winner heading to Baltimore. One trainer left to wonder what could have been, and another waking up this morning and planning what might be.
So, let's ask: What might be? It's an exciting question today. In recent years, only Derby winners Barbaro and Smarty Jones inspired as much confidence heading into the Preakness.
For Dutrow, who overcame so many obstacles - mostly self-imposed - to reach the winner's circle at Churchill Downs, yesterday's win marked the start of a party that you can bet will continue in Baltimore and maybe even beyond.
"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," said Dutrow, the son of Dickie Dutrow, who was one of Maryland's top trainers in the 1970s and early '80s. "You want it, you want it, you want it. And I just kept wanting it.
"Now I want the Preakness."
Despite Dutrow's daily assurances, as dependable and prompt as the pre-dawn coffee last week, there were plenty of reasons to doubt Big Brown heading into the Derby. For starters, no colt since 1915 had won the race with so little experience, and no winner since 1929 managed to start from the 20th post and win.
There won't be too many reasons to doubt Big Brown heading into the Preakness. He's a horse who is not only ignoring history, but also might be primed to make it.
"All we have to do is stay out of his way, just not do anything stupid around him," Dutrow said, "and he'll run like this again."
