Dutrow is the horse's ass in world of horse racing
And then when Big Brown didn't win, didn't place, didn't show -- didn't finish -- Dutrow didn't say anything. He disappeared. He hid. He ducked the media, which is the absolute dumbest thing a guy in his shoes could have done. The American public has been conditioned to accept a humbled loser, but we have no tolerance for a coward. Dutrow was a coward. And so his reputation took another hit on top of the hit for Big Brown's stunning Saturday collapse.
And now that Dutrow has gone after the jockey, he will take another hit. Probably the biggest hit of all, which is saying something. Before Dutrow opened his mouth about the jockey, he was a braggart and a ruthless steroid user and then a loser and ultimately a wimp. But now he's a bully and a jerk, because he has gone after the jockey.
Dutrow has taken stock of his horse and his horse's training and the interrupted steroid cycle and the hoof condition and Big Brown's obviously poor stamina, and out of all that Dutrow has concluded that Big Brown's debacle was somebody else's fault. Had to be. Couldn't be the trainer. Couldn't be Dutrow himself. A narcissist never sees fault in the mirror, and Dutrow sure seems to be in love with himself.
So this is what he said about Kent Desormeaux, a 22-year veteran jockey -- a Hall of Fame jockey -- with 4,984 career victories, including five Triple Crown races:
"I don't see the horse with a problem, so I have to direct my attention toward the ride. That's all I can come up with."
And he said: "As long as the horse stays the way that I see him right now, then things are just going to keep building up for me to know that it was the ride that did him in."
And he said he hadn't spoken to Desormeaux before concluding this whole fiasco was the jockey's fault -- but "if he calls me I'll talk to him, sure."
Before this season began, I'd never heard of Rick Dutrow. I'm guessing lots of you had never heard of him either.
It's like he came out of nowhere.
Let's hope he goes back there.
