Big Brown more than outside shot at Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rick Dutrow is nothing if not bold.
His colt’s full billing for the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday now might be most appropriately Big Brown and Bold.
(AP)
The brash East Coast trainer left ’em reaching for the Kentuckiana oxygen at the post-position draw for the Run for the Roses on Wednesday when he chose Post 20 for his vaunted 3-year-old, Big Brown.
With the 16th selection in the 20-horse draft, Dutrow could have taken Posts 1, 2, 18 or 19. Instead, he chose a slot that has produced only one Derby winner in the modern history of the race. That was Clyde Van Dusen, the memorable chestnut gelding who wired 20 foes at Churchill Downs in 1929.
‘‘We wanted that instead of the others that were remaining,’’ said Dutrow, 48, the son of fabled Maryland trainer Dick Dutrow. ‘‘He gets to be loaded last. He usually puts himself right in the game. We’re not going to be looking for trouble out there. I’d rather have this post than a lot of others. It might be too far out there, but we’re going to accept that challenge.’’ Dutrow’s unorthodox positioning did nothing to deter Churchill Downs linemaker Mike Battaglia from installing the unbeaten son of Boundary as the 3-1 morning-line favorite. ‘‘I had him at 5-2 before the draw and bumped him up a half-notch after the post selection,’’ Battaglia said.
Only two other scheduled starters commanded single-digit opening odds from Battaglia: Colonel John, Eoin Harty’s streaking Santa Anita Derby champion (4-1, Post 10); and Pyro, Steve Asmussen’s highly regarded Pulpit sophomore (6-1, Post 9).
Harty was asked if he felt Colonel John — who has won four of his last five and never has been worse than second in six career starts — should have been favored over Big Brown. ‘‘Not at all,’’ he said. ‘‘[Big Brown] is undefeated. My horse has suffered two defeats. I’m glad the other fellow is the favorite.’’
Dutrow clearly is hoping jockey Kent Desormeaux can blast from the gate and make his 19 opponents chase him for the final mile of the 1Ś-mile classic. Blasting away at the start is exactly how Big Brown swept through an ascending stairway of maiden-allowance-Florida Derby by a total of 29 lengths en route to Louisville. The extreme inside posts in the Derby are considered detrimental despite the fact Post 2 produced show horses the last two years — Curlin last May and Steppenwolfer in 2006.
‘‘As long as he breaks good and they’ve got that long straightaway to the first turn, it’s supposed to just come naturally to him,’’ said Dutrow, who is saddling his first Kentucky Derby starter. His father never started a horse in the Derby.
The challenge to Big Brown becomes so much more daunting because of multiple speedballs starting inside of him and in proximity. Most prominent in that fleet of likely dragsters are Nick Zito’s Cool Coal Man (Post 1, 20-1), the filly Eight Belles (Post 5, 20-1), six-furlong world-record holder Bob Black Jack (Post 13, 20-1), Blue Grass runner-up Cowboy Cal (Post 17, 20-1), Illinois Derby champ Recapturetheglory (Post 18, 20-1) and Arkansas Derby winner Gayego (Post 19, 15-1).
In contrast to Dutrow, Recapturetheglory trainer Louis Roussel III appeared much more realistic when asked to assess his comet’s chances from Post 18, taken three picks after Big Brown’s. ‘‘It’s just miserable that we have such a bad post position,’’ he said. But what can you do when you pick 19th of 20?’’ The last Derby victor to start from outside Post 16 was Gato Del Sol, who won from Post 18 in 1982. The last three Derbies have had full 20-horse fields, and the Post 20 starters finished 13th (Great Hunter in 2007), 14th (Flashy Bull in 2006) and fifth (Buzzards Bay in 2005).
And one final note on Clyde Van Dusen: His Derby win came in the days when the start was a walk-up, rather than from a starting gate.
