Racing's Rein Man

Hall of Fame Jockey Desormeaux Has a Big Brown Spot in His Heart

BALTIMORE, May 15 -- The morning after jockey Kent Desormeaux rode Big Brown to victory in the Kentucky Derby, he put on a finely tailored, dark pinstripe suit, gathered his two sons and old friend Bill Stubblefield, and drove out to Churchill Downs.

With a chilled bottle of champagne and stemware in hand, the small party made its way alone to the roof of the empty racetrack to gaze down on the homestretch and raise a toast in the direction of the famed twin spires. A day after 157,000 fans jammed into Churchill had screamed wildly as Big Brown crossed the finish line, Desormeaux reveled for a moment in the silence of the place, a man on top of the world.

"Whooo hooo!" they yelled out into the sky. "Whooo hooo!"

Unquestionably, these are heady times for Desormeaux, 38, who returns to his old stomping ground of Maryland this weekend, aiming to annex the second leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday in the 133rd Preakness Stakes.

"I'm very photographic in my mind," Desormeaux said. "I'll remember it if I see it. I was just absolutely soaking it in. The champagne. The atmosphere. The racetrack. The finish line. Remembering the roar of the crowd. For a thoroughbred person, it's what we strive for, and I never got to enjoy the moment before."

Desormeaux comes into the Preakness one of the hottest riders in the country. Not only does he have Big Brown, he also easily led all jockeys at the prestigious Keeneland spring meet with 22 victories. His agent, Mike Sellito, is putting him on one live horse after another, and even when some runners don't figure to win, Desormeaux has often found a way to get them home.

"I've never felt more alive than right now," Desormeaux said recently. "Keeneland, ah, that was so awesome. I was so proud. And to have Big Brown is so humbling. These are exciting times."

Desormeaux has done just about everything a rider can do in racing except win the Triple Crown. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness on Real Quiet in 1998 and just missed winning the Belmont Stakes that year. Two years later, he took the Derby again on Fusaichi Pegasus. He has won three Eclipse Awards as the leading rider in the country, is in the Hall of Fame and has won myriad riding titles.

Yet, in some ways, his success is considered a comeback story because of a protracted slump he went into while riding in California, where he had moved in 1990 after a meteoric rise to fame in Maryland in the late 1980s.

He had done everything he was going to do in Maryland, having won nine meet riding titles in three years and set a single-season record for victories with 599 in 1989.

Married to his childhood sweetheart, Sonia, whom he grew up with in Maurice, La., Desormeaux packed his bags and took his reputation as "The Cajun Kid" and "Superman" to Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, two of the most prestigious racetracks in the country.

Jockey Mario Pino remembered Desormeaux before he left, in the time when he at times seemed to be winning every race at Laurel Park and Pimlico.