Kent Desormeaux Describes Belmont Run

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux describes his Belmont Stakes (gr. I) run aboard Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner Exaggerator, who finished 11th in a field of 13 June 11 at Belmont Park:

"I covered him up. They slowed it down in his face and I elected, instead of going any slower—because I felt like I was crawling, for him it was crawling; I was out of his maximum cruising speed—so I let him set himself up on the outside. Now there's not a straw in his path and it's his race to win, or lose.

"Approaching the half-mile pole, we started racing. It was a gallop to the half-mile pole. I couldn't believe we were going so slow for such an animal, such a talent, such a horse with expeditious speed. We quickened at the 4 1/2, and this horse, I had about 10 pounds of pressure on the reins asking him to wait. It took about that. I was pulling with about 10 pounds of pressure."

"We switched leads where we normally start, when we're racing on little racetracks, and the guys in front quickened and I elected, 'OK, well I like my position, and don't want to lose it. He can a run half a mile from here.' So, I released the lines and now I had about four pounds of pressure on him, and they kept opening up on me.

"I was praying to God that the reins were lying to me. The horse that was keen to progress was not underneath me. I nursed him to the quarter pole and set him down, put him down for a mad drive and said, 'Show me your stuff,' and there was nothing there. By the time we got to the eighth pole he was stepping on his tongue, and I said, 'That's enough. I'm not going to be fifth, I'm not going to be seventh. Let's get him home and probably get him back to where he enjoys a mile and a quarter or not three weeks in a row.' " 

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"You can blame a million things after that effort, but I just know going in he couldn't have been a happier horse. They can be bucking and kicking in the barn but they go a quarter of a mile after what he's been through and he says, 'You guys go ahead, I'll catch you all again next week.' Maybe that's all there is to it.

"This track today is in perfect shape. It's silky sand, they have a beautiful cushion where they sink in about four inches and meet the bottom. If I could draw this track all over the world and have the surface underneath this horse's feet, this is what I would ask for. Congratulations to Belmont; the track did not get this horse beat. It was wonderful.

"I just know there was nothing left. The horse was empty. He came off the bridle at the 4 1/2. I didn't move. I sat quiet and let him steady there, I let him cruise. When I picked him up at the quarter pole to go ahead and try to win the race, there was nothing there. He did not quicken and he has a turn of foot, and my brother and I call it, we say when I turn this guy loose, he pops a wheelie he gets up so fast. And there was nothing there."