In interviews today following Desormeaux's meeting with Dutrow.......?

Question

....Desormeaux indicated that he had planned to take the lead right out of the gate, but that the race starter (the man who shoots the starting gun) was still standing on the track right in his path. Avoiding him and keeping BB steady was what allowed the other horses to push forward ahead of him. Dutrow wanted to know why he hadn't mentioned this earlier. I watched the replay to see this, and, sure enough, there he was.

WTH didn't he get off the track and out of their way??? BB might have lost the race because of it, given the eventualities that ensued during the running. (Makes you wish the guys would clamor for a rerun due to the avoidable interference in this one....for BB's sake, and what should have happened instead.) Were you all aware that this had occurred?

Answer 1

IF this person in any way was the reason that Big Brown lost, you can rest assured that Kent and Dutrow and all of the owners would have filed a complaint before the race was official.  Kent is professional enough to have know if that was the cause of Big Brown's loss.  And if he is just now bringing this up, then I have lost all respect for him as a professional jockey.

Answer 2

you are right - i watched it again . the starter should be penalized and the race re-run. shouldnt the jockey have let the stewards know at the end of the race?

if it were me, i'd have charged on and hoped the guy got out of the way - it's the last leg of the triple crown

Answer 3

I did not notice that until just now when I looked again at a reply of the race. Sure enough, an instant after the start of the race the starter can be clearly seen standing on the track as the horses passed and Big Brown coming out of gate #1 was closest to the starter as they passed. I don't know if that was a distraction to Big Brown or not or if it might have rattled him but I really don't think so. Nevertheless, that starter should have been outside the rail or should have at the very least ducked under the rail. How strange!

Answer 4

Someone would have jumped on that the second the race started had it truly happened.  I agree with Dutrow on this one, Kent is trying to save his own skin, he needs to come to grips and admit his ride was bad, suck it up, he's a professional rider, worse, a professional jockey, admit mistakes and move on.  As far as I'm concerned, forget the race and watch for the Traver's in August. Oh....and Big Brown broke from gate number 2, not number one, he ran right past that starter without flinching....I just watched the video on youtube, it's clearly visible that Big Brown never so much as flinched.

Answer 5

I'm sorry, but this smells like another silly excuse from the Big Brown team.  I just watched the replay and I don't see the guy standing in his path. I paused it, the starter was standing on the track but he wasn't in Big Brown's path.  The starter said that's where he always stands.

Da'Tara broke faster as soon as the gates sprung.  He was a good half length ahead of Big Brown by the time they got even with the starter.  If you pause it there I think you'll see what I mean.  

Horses have faced much worse than that in the Belmont and won.  Remember Rags To Riches last year almost went to her knees at the break.  

I know my answer won't be popular among the Big Brown contingent here, but it's time to move on and accept that he lost a race.

Answer 6

I just watched it again twice, and I didn't think the starter interfered in any way. If this was truly the case I'm sure some sports writers would have picked up on it.

Answer 7

I have to agree with Racing Fan that this is a really weak excuse. I just watched the start of the race again. I did see the guy on the track, but I also saw that Big Brown, while wearing towel 1, was breaking from the 2nd slot of the gate. And there's a little room between the gate and the rail. The guy wasn't standing in Big Brown's way at all. Actually, Big Brown dives into Guadalcanal at the start of the race and Kent has to yank hard on the inside rein to straighten the horse. Maybe the horse saw the person and that's why he dove in, but that's a big maybe. Especially after Kent said right after the race that Big Brown tried to break so hard from the gate that he slipped. Now he's saying the opposite thing. I just can't believe his new story. If you watch the start of the race, Da Tara just has amazing speed out of the gate. I've never seen Big Brown break that well. Big Brown wasn't going to break that well in the Belmont, regardless of what was going on around him. Everyone (meaning mainly Dutrow and Kent) needs to accept it for what it was... the horse didn't break as well as another horse, he threw a fit, wasted energy, and didn't win. That guy on the track didn't make that much of a difference.

Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up6xv897t...

Starting at 6:08, there's a head on of the start of the race. Notice that it's centered on the starting gate and there's an empty space next to Big Brown. Notice that the horse has tons of room to his left and that you can't even see that guy standing on the track.  And notice that a horse comes to the rail behind Big Brown... that horse gets closer to the rail than Big Brown is... if Kent needed to avoid the guy on the track, surely the horse behind him would have needed to come off the rail too... but he didn't.

Certainly, Kent is in a much better position to make an opinion on this than I am. I wasn't the one trying to break the horse out of the gate. However, looking at all the videos, that guy on the track didn't look like he made any difference at all to the race.

The reason the guy didn't get out of the way: because that guy probably stands there in every race at that track, every day. And it doesn't make a difference in all of those races, so why would it now? Big Brown was just too inexperienced to break from the inside post. He ruined his own chances.

Answer 8

I really don't think a guy getting in Big Brown's way is enough to ruin the race for him, honestly.  The problem wasn't that he didn't get in front early enough, as he ran almost the entire race in third place.  The problem was that he simply was not responding to Desormeaux's commands.

I like Big Brown.  Big Brown is a great racehorse.   However, just because he had won all of his previous races by no means entitles him to win every single one from now on.  Sure, it was unfortunate, but oh well, it happens.  Have they ever considered the fact that not only was it 93 degrees out, but that he also probably is TIRED after all the racing he's done lately?  I will bet that he probably was overheated and tired, and just didn't have the energy to run the way he usually does.  Desormeaux did the right thing by pulling him out and walking him the rest of the race.

Dutrow needs to stop whining and face the facts that being a rude, egotistical baffoon will come back and bite you in the butt the minute you go to far.  Saying that none of the horses stood a chance of winning the Belmont was his biggest downfall, and while I did want BB to win, I'm glad Dutrow got what he deserved, personally.  I just wish it would have shut him up, but I realize that's too much to ask.

Answer 9

im a big brown fan but honestly this is getting out of hand.  im sure that theyll come out with an hour long special on espn that investigates all these theories with a team of scientists and specialist.