Desormeaux Gets the Last Laugh in Preakness

It was just last June that Keith Desormeaux ran a horse back in seven days, raising the ire of traditionalists who accused him of bordering on being Abramsesque.

The horse was Crucero, who had finished second in an allowance race at a mile and a quarter on turf June 21, then came back in the Grade III San Juan Capistrano Stakes at about 1 ¾ miles on turf June 28, winning by a neck under Keith’s younger brother Kent at 23-1 odds.

“The horse was giving me every sign that he was ready run,” Keith said in explaining the uncharacteristically quick turnaround for the five-year-old Florida-bred.

Desormeaux got the last laugh, not to mention the winner’s share of $90,000.

Fast forward to Pimlico, two days before yesterday’s Preakness Stakes.

J. (for John) Keith Desormeaux is taken to task by a member of the media on Exaggerator’s “numbers” as the colt prepares to again challenge unbeaten champion Nyquist, who had beaten Exaggerator in four previous meetings, including the Kentucky Derby May 7.

“I’ve heard some talk about that, but I really can’t put any credence in those numbers,” Desormeaux responded. “ . . . I’m only focused on my horse and the particular situation we’re in. My horse came out of the Derby in great shape and I’m very much expecting for him to move forward . . . Two days out of the Derby he was wide-eyed and ready to go again.”

On TVG two days before the Preakness, Desormeaux told an interviewer Exaggerator was “coming out of his skin.”

Face it. The man knows how to read a horse. Keith Desormeaux reads a horse like Olivier read Shakespeare.

Exaggerator won the Preakness on a sloppy track by 3 ½ lengths, giving Kent his third triumph in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“Kent knew exactly what he wanted to do and he executed it,” said veteran horseman Dan Landers, assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally.

Fortunately, racing can look forward to another meeting between Exaggerator and Nyquist, a contemporary version of Affirmed and Alydar.

The two are scheduled to do battle again in the Belmont Stakes on June 11.

Three weeks. That should be plenty of time for Keith Desormeaux.

Source: Santa Anita Park