LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Big Brown is a very big deal, babe.
The undefeated 3-year-old, who came into the 134th Kentucky Derby with just three career races and heard nothing but reasons he couldn't win, won yesterday with a beautiful performance that silenced his doubters.
Coming from the far outside, Big Brown became only the second horse in Derby history to win from the No. 20 post and became the first horse since Regret in 1915 to win the Derby in only his fourth race - a feat most Derby handicappers said couldn't be done in the modern era.
But Big Brown did it and made it look easy, beating Eight Belles - the lone filly in the field and the only pursuer within sight - to the finish by 4 3/4 lengths. Then, in a terrible scene, Eight Belles dropped to her knees as she was galloping out. The brave filly broke both of her front ankles and had to be euthanized on the racetrack.
"I was shocked," said Larry Jones, Eight Belles' trainer. "Put her down? We're used to trying to save them now. But when I did see her, there was no doubt it had to be done."
Big Brown carried jockey Kent Desormeaux to victory over the 1 1/4 -mile Churchill Downs track in 2 minutes, 1.82 seconds.
He took the lead at the mile mark from Bob Black Jack and never paused.
"Going down the backside, I didn't know if I had any horse," Desormeaux said. "He was just galloping, floppy-eared, off the bridle, cruising, and I remember a trainer told me once 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, [he] puts me in a new position."
Desormeaux said he made two moves yesterday, one going into the turn and then another at the three-sixteenths pole. "Every time I asked him for something, it was just like leaving the starting gate," he said.
The Derby victory is Desormeaux's third, putting him in company with Isaac Murphy, Earl Sande, Angel Cordero Jr. and Gary Stevens. Only three others have won more: Bill Shoemaker with four, and Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack with five each.
"This ride was perfect," Desormeaux said. "It was a dream, an uneventful cruise down the front side the first time. No distractions. No alterations in course. Just slide over, and he did it so within himself."
