Enough already!

The vilification of Kent Desormeaux continues with none other than Gary Stevens piling criticism of his performance astride Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes on the pyre. Enough already.

Stevens offered the opinion that Big Brown should have been sent to the lead at the outset.

Trainer Rick Dutrow: I can’t find anything, so it must have been the ride.

What?

What should Desormeaux have done? Engage Da’Tara, who appeared to be committed to going for the lead?

Imagine the criticism Desormeaux would have taken had he allowed Big Brown to become involved in a speed duel in the early stages of a 12-furlong race of this magnitude. The outcome may have been different. Perhaps Denis of Cork would have won the Belmont.

Entering the first turn, Desormeaux was exactly where he planned to be and the initially rank Big Brown appeared to settle into a rhythm while running down the backstretch with Da’Tara and Tale of Ekati squarely in his sites. At that point, the ride that Desormeaux was delivering, after the crowding in the run to the first turn, appeared uneventful. Typically, Big Brown would have move willingly when asked. He did not.

So, where did Desormeaux go wrong? Pulling up the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner? At midpoint of the stretch turn, Big Brown had been under an aggressive ride and was doing nothing. If Desormeaux was fearful that something was physically amiss – a thought shared almost universally – then, he did exactly the right thing. The controversy that would have followed a breakdown would have boiled through the rest of the year.

Whatever the reason for Big Brown’s lack of response in the Belmont, it had nothing to do with anything Desormeaux did or did not do. It is about time to put this away. If there is an explanation, it is unlikely that it will ever be revealed by Dutrow or the owners.