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Jockey Taking Family On Ride Of Lifetime

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By DAN GELSTON The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 18, 2008

BALTIMORE - Dad was somewhere else getting all the pats on the back for his winning ride Saturday. Jacob Desormeaux was too distracted to notice anyway.

Sitting on a friend's shoulders, the 9-year-old boy patted his mom on the head and asked a question that had nothing to do with winning the Triple Crown.

"I wish Daddy would buy Big Brown," Jacob said. "Mom, can we buy Big Brown?"

"No," said Sonia Desormeaux, laughing. "We can't afford Big Brown. He's too expensive."

Maybe Dad can't afford the dazzling colt. But jockey Kent Desormeaux is taking Big Brown, family and friends on the Triple Crown ride of a lifetime.

Desormeaux rode Big Brown to a 5 1/4 -length victory at the Preakness, setting up a Triple Crown try at the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.

"There are so many hurdles," Desormeaux said. "I can't wait to find out what happens."

Greatness again awaits Desormeaux. This time, the jockey wants to finish what he started.

Ten years after a crushing near-miss at racing history, Desormeaux, 38, has another shot at winning the Triple Crown.

Desormeaux called Big Brown the best horse he has ever ridden, even better than Real Quiet, the colt that nearly ended the Triple Crown drought in 1998. Desormeaux rode Real Quiet to nearly a four-length lead at the Belmont, only to have Victory Gallop catch him in the final stride of a sensational stretch run and win by a nose.

Win the Triple Crown, and an ordinary jockey's life would never be the same. Desormeaux seems fit to handle all the chaotic changes that come along with grouping your name with winners such as Steve Cauthen or Ron Turcotte.

"When you can win geared down like Kent had him, it's amazing," Cauthen, who rode Affirmed, said by telephone from Kentucky. "The thing is, I think somebody said today if he gets boxed in and gets dirt in his face, maybe that would stop him, but he's proven that doesn't bother him."

Desormeaux's professional disappointments have been a blip compared to the personal hardships in his family. Jacob was born with Usher syndrome, a genetic disorder that stole his hearing at birth and is slowly robbing him of his sight.

Jacob acted like any other boy on this night.

"I'm thankful that I've been blessed with three beautiful people and a freak of a horse," said Desormeaux, who has another son named Joshua.

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