Kent Desormeaux vows to beat alcohol problem
Kent Desormeaux has been a winner for nearly 25 years but now the race that one of America’s top jockeys must win is against himself.
It looked like business as usual when Desormeaux won the Grade Two Virginia Derby on Paddy O'Prado at Colonial Downs on Saturday but the rider has now announced that he has started a series of counselling sessions as he attempts to solve problems with alcohol.
The first signs of trouble broke in May when Desormeaux appeared to sound intoxicated during a radio interview a few days after the Kentucky Derby, in which he received criticism from some observers for his ride on Paddy O'Prado, who was beaten a neck for second by Ice Box. But matters came to head when Desormeaux failed a breathalyser test at Woodbine racecourse on July 1st. The positive test precluded from riding Hold Me Back in the Dominion Day Handicap, with Tyler Pizarro coming in for the winning ride.
At the time Desormeaux said that “I've never been so embarrassed,” and described the incident as “very unprofessional”, explaining that he had a drink the night before at a birthday party for a friend.
But confronted with the evidence of his problem the 40-year-old started meeting a therapist shortly after the Woodbine breath test. “I put myself in a programme where I have a psychotherapist and she's giving me the direction that I need as well as I have a sponsor that is nearby that keeps an eye on me, that I have to check in with every day," Desormeaux told the Daily Racing Form. "Either they see me or I talk to them.”
Desormeaux, a triple Eclipse Award-winning rider who is fifth in the all-time list in prize-money earnings ($233,623,868) and 19th in terms of winners (5,312), is currently based at Saratoga for the summer meeting and has been offered help from the New York division of the Racetrack Chaplaincy. Nick Caras, the field director for New York's racetrack chaplaincy, said: “We're going to be a liaison between him and some affiliate programmes. It's not our programme - we're going to give him some options.”
Like many who have been in this position the first step for Desormeaux has been the acceptance that he has a problem in the first place. “I want to make it plainly clear that I'm going to do the due diligence to get better and to be a better person at work,” he said. “It's real simple - stop being silly. What happened in Canada was embarrassing.”
There has already been some damage done in terms of owners including WinStar Farm, owners of Hold Me Back.
Stability is now likely to be key for Desormeaux, and the jockey is hoping that the presence of his two sons, Jacob and Joshua, for the Saratoga meeting will be the necessary sobering influence. “Having them in my presence always makes me a better person,” he said. “I certainly want to be a good example for my kids.”
Support from the racing community will also be important and Bill Mott, the trainer of Hold Me Back, has provided Desormeaux with a large number of winners since the jockey’s move to the New York circuit. “I want my owners to know I'm riding somebody that's as good as they can get. Being clean would be part of that,” Mott said.
Desormeaux, along with Mike Smith, are the only two active jockeys to have won all three legs of the Triple Crown, a feat he completed with the victory of Summer Bird in the 2009 Belmont Stakes and the likes of Pat Day, Jerry Bailey, and Garrett Gomez have dealt with various substance abuse issues and scaled new heights.
The race is now on in earnest and it is one that Desormeaux knows he cannot afford to lose.
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