NEWS
Big Brown, Dutrow comfortable on scene at Churchill
Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 1:37 PM
BIG BROWN GALLOPING ON APRIL 29 AT CHURCHILL
Photo by Z
by Jeff Lowe
Big Brown made his first trip to the Churchill Downs main track on Tuesday morning while his trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., seemed at home in the spotlight with the probable favorite for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).
About 16 hours after arriving from South Florida, Big Brown galloped twice around the mile oval just after the renovation break, digging in eagerly for his regular exercise rider, assistant trainer Michelle Nevin.
Dutrow was all smiles when he held court a couple hours later in a half-hour press conference that touched on everything from his emphatic confidence in Big Brown to his time living in a tack room at Aqueduct a decade ago.
Dutrow's emotions are always an easy read, and he has seemingly made no effort to contain his enthusiasm over Big Brown, who will be his first Derby starter. While not singling him out by name, other trainers with horses in the race have scoffed at the idea of a trainer being so brash and openly confident for such a unique and prestigious challenge as winning the Kentucky Derby.
To Dutrow, he is only responding honestly to what he has witnessed from Big Brown.
"I'm very confident with Big Brown, only because he's given me this confidence," Dutrow said. "I'm not just waking up and saying 'Hey, I'm confident.' I'm seeing the horse. He's given me all great signs for me to tell people, 'go ahead and bet on our horse.'
"I'm like everybody that would have a really good horse going into the Derby. I'm dreaming of it, and it's very exciting. It would be intense if there was pressure on me. The only way you can put pressure on me is through my racehorse, and he's good. I don't have the pressure, it's not intense to me."
Dutrow is in the Derby for the first time, but training a horse with the potential for big things is nothing new to him. He had a similar degree of confidence in Saint Liam leading up to his victory in the 2005 Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) at Belmont Park that clinched Horse of the Year honors.
"Saint Liam in my opinion was by far the best horse in that race," Dutrow said. "He was running over a track that he loved. We drew an excellent post, we had the 13 hole. … Here you've got a mile-and-a-quarter and you've got a track he's got to run over [for the first time]. Those are two biggest question marks that we have, naturally. But we're going to be betting."
With a wide grin, Dutrow said he will bet as much on Big Brown as his "friends" will allow him. Dutrow is an ambitious gambler—he lost $30,000 when Saint Liam finished sixth in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), but he scored out to the tune of $384,000 on a $160,000 wager on the Classic.
"I'm all in," Dutrow has said repeatedly about Big Brown. "I bet with my friends. That way I can't get in trouble if I lose because I'll pay off in time. If I win, they're going to pay off in time."
Dutrow's confidence is not always a sure bet. He still has no answer for Sis City's fourth-place finish as the heavy favorite in the 2005 Kentucky Oaks (G1), off a 10 1/2-length win in the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland Race Course. She never won another race.
"I don't have any idea what happened with Sis City," Dutrow said. "I loved her that day. After she ran in that race she trained so good coming up to every race, but she never showed up again [in a race]."
Dutrow's position—and his wallet—reflect a long and successful journey from the challenging period ten years ago when he went out on his own in New York. Dutrow had three horses, and he lived in the barn with a microwave, television, mattress, and telephone as his most valuable possessions.
"I wanted to be around good horses and have the opportunity to have good clients," Dutrow said. "If I didn't stay in the tack room, I would have had to have left. I loved it. I was right there with my horses. I had my microwave set up. I was good really. If I lost everything and had to do it again, man I'm there.
"Actually I should never leave the barn because when I leave the barn, that's when trouble starts for me."
Dutrow has overcome drug problems and persevered through a long list of suspensions, including a 60-day ban during the summer of Saint Liam's championship season for medication and claiming rule violations.
"I've had so many different suspensions," he said. "Half of them I deserved, half of them I didn't. I don't think I'm a person you would look to for guidance. I can't guide another person and tell you, 'Hey, you've got to do that.' The only thing that I need is to be allowed to work around the horses. When they give me back my license to work with the horses, man, I'm good to go. Even when I'm on my suspensions, I'm going to try to sneak in there in the middle of the night to see my horses. What can I tell you? I'm a horseman.
"Watching the Derby when I was young, I wanted to get there. I've had really good horses that if they were good Derby time, yeah, we would have been there. This is a whole different game. It's like a dream come true. I can't wait to get the game on. We've had enough training, we're ready."
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
