No Big surprise at all

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Multitasking during the biggest race of his training career, Rick Dutrow, Jr. figured he had no choice but to fib.

While trying to follow Big Brown down the backstretch of yesterday’s Kentucky Derby, Dutrow was peppered with questions about the colt’s standing.

Big Brown glided along in fourth place when Dutrow saw a few horses to the inside make a move to pass his colt.

He got worried. But he didn’t tell that to co-owner Mike Iavarone.

“Is he too far back?” Iavarone said.

“He’s perfect,” Dutrow replied.

In reality, he was concerned.

“I didn’t know what [jockey Kent Desormeaux] knew and when he was laying fifth or sixth and there were horses going inside that looked like they were moving, I got a little nervous,” he said. “But Kent bided his time and it was all good. Brown showed up.”

Dutrow’s worries were erased when Big Brown accelerated, storming past five horses around the second turn and rolling to a 43/4-length win over Eight Belles before 157,770, the second-largest crowd in Derby history.

While Desormeaux celebrated his third Derby triumph and Dutrow basked in his first Triple Crown race win, tragedy struck Eight Belles.

As she galloped near the top of the backstretch, she collapsed after she sustained fractures to both front ankles. Veterinarians humanely euthanized her minutes later.

“After we passed the wire, I stood up,” jockey Gabriel Saez said. “She started galloping funny and I tried to pull her up, but she went down.”

Eight Belles, the first filly running in the Derby since 1999, tried to become the first female to win the roses since Winning Colors 20 years ago.

“When we finally got to the track and I saw Kent coming back, it didn’t look like he had won the Kentucky Derby — he was solemn,” Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones said. “I figured it was one of the horses that had run poorly.”

Eight Belles almost made history; Big Brown did make history.

In moving his record to 4-for-4, he became the first Derby winner since Regret in 1915 to have only three previous career starts and the first horse to win from the 20 post since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.

Traveling farther outside than most observers anticipated, the horse named after UPS was delivered a perfect trip, running outside until Desormeaux glided him toward the rail over the final eighth of a mile.

“He’s got the ability to have multiple gears,” Desormeaux said. “That’s only what Derby winners can do. They can move you into a position and then cruise, take you into another position and cruise again. Every time I ask him to go, it’s like he’s leaving the starting gate again.”

Bob Black Jack led the first half of the race. Big Brown was fourth after a quarter-mile and sixth with half-mile remaining.

The 20 post ended up a non-issue. Big Brown doesn’t need to hug the rail to be effective. By positioning the colt outside, Desormeaux had no traffic issues and didn’t get any dirt kicked in his face.

“It was just the way we envisioned it,” Dutrow said. “We thought, ’Let’s give our horse a chance to win the race if he doesn’t break sharp.’ We were guaranteed a good trip and Big Brown puts himself wherever he wants to be. The horse settled nicely for Kent and every inch of the race was to our liking.”

Approaching the stretch, Big Brown passed Recapturetheglory and Desormeaux angled him inside. With prodding, he extended his lead over the final half-furlong.

Desormeaux became the eighth jockey to win the Derby three times. He won with Real Quiet in 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000. He calls Big Brown the best horse he has been aboard.

“I’ve probably had some horses that were equally fast,” he said. “But he’s intelligent. That’s what makes him the best. He has the talent and the brains.”

Denis of Cork (passing 16 horses over the final half-mile), Tale of Ekati and Recapturetheglory closed out the top five. Second favorite Colonel John finished sixth and third betting choice Pyro eighth after a brutal start.

Big Brown’s big test will come in 13 days at the Preakness, where he will face rested horses. But Dutrow, who reneged on his promise to bet $100,000 on Big Brown to win, can start worrying about that tomorrow.

“When he turned for home, I knew the game was over and we were all going crazy,” he said. “It’s just so exciting for us because you could see that nobody was going to catch him.”