OUTTAKES

Kenny Mayne breaks into a gallop to catch up with Kent Desormeaux.

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

KM: Big Brown, your Derby horse, is undefeated. You worried about the hype?
KD: Been there, done that. I rode Fusaichi Pegasus, the first favorite to win in 21 years,
at the 2000 Derby. So I'm ready. I wish the race were tomorrow.
KM: Do you just leave it all to the trainers? "Have him ready, and I'll ride him"?
KD: I've heard, "You ride him, let us revive him." But I can feel when a horse isn't well. Big Brown's smooth as silk. He may be the best horse I've ever ridden. He's so smart, too.
KM: Do you think he's smarter than you? Like, if he could take an intelligence test?
KD: He just might be. They don't call us pinheads for nothing.

KM: Everybody says horse racing needs a Triple Crown winner to save the sport. But even though there hasn't been one since Affirmed, 30 years ago, the sport keeps going.
KD: It doesn't get any bigger than a Triple Crown attempt, and we've had several recently. And win or lose the Belmont, the story ends. So I hope things continue the same way and the Grandstand at Belmont is packed and the whole world watches.
KM: At the 1998 Belmont you lost by a nose, which is as close as anyone has come to a Triple Crown since 1978. But a head bob the other way, and you would've won.
KD: Exactly. And yet I had to listen to people say, "See? I told you Real Quiet couldn't
get a mile-and-a-half." That's just ridiculous.
KM: Will it make you mad to know I bet on Victory Gallop that day?
KD: No. Gary Stevens even said that he didn't do a great job on Victory Gallop in the
Preakness. So there was still love for that horse.

KM: Is it confusing for you to do taxes, since you ride in so many different states and countries? I mean, you've got to have a pretty thick book load of taxation going on.
KD: Yeah. My guy's really good, though. He's in tune to every state. I really enjoy his
service. In fact, I want to tell everyone that Joe Skeehan in Pasadena, Calif., is the best.

KM: Have you ever sold advertising on your pants?
KD: Yes, to a Las Vegas real estate firm. They've been with me for the past six years.
KM: On your leg or on your butt?
KD: Between the knee and hip. It's just another way to bring more fans to horse racing. It would be nice to see Coca-Cola and UPS flying around the racetrack with us.
KM: UPS would be perfect for the Derby: "What could Big Brown do for you?"
KD: I can already imagine the commercials. Have my horse walk off the van at Churchill Downs and then say, "If you need to ship a package, jockey or horse, UPS will be there."

KM: In Seabiscuit, the jockeys all but read to each other while riding. Do you talk much?
KD: It's usually just to let your peers know if they're about to cause an infraction. But when I won on Real Quiet, Gary Stevens sure did yell to me, "Go get him, Meaux!"

KM: I've heard that if there was a very close race at the wire and the jockeys didn't know who'd won, they'd look at each other and say, "Split." Have you done that before?
KD: More than once. Instead of walking away with $40, if it's a $6,000 purse, you're
both walking away with $3,000.
KM: Do you think you lost any weight just answering these questions?
KD: Yeah, you wore me out.

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