Kentucky Derby

Kent Desormeaux and Big Brown were on cruise control down the stretch. Big Brown became the second horse to win the race from the No. 20 post. (Ron Garrison/Staff) » Big win; sad place | Derby chart | The field | The field, connections (PDF) | Prep races
Eight Belles euthanized after race
• Heartbreaking losses turn horse fans away
• PETA calls for changes in racing

PHOTO SLIDE SHOWS
• Big Brown prior to Belmont Stakes 1 | 2
• Eight Belles: Sudden loss
• Big Brown Express
• A beautiful fun day at the Downs
• Fashion: Color of the Derby
• Celebs at Barnstable-Brown Gala
• 134th running of the Kentucky Oaks
• Popular, lovable barn cat named Toes
» More
VIDEO
• Big Brown by The Associated Press
• It was a big, big day
• Stars on the red carpet
• Meet the Derby man
• Celebrities dig Derby bash
» More

Saturday's Derby Preview cover

You can order Saturday's section front

Horse racing

Dutrow: "It's not my fault'

By Richard Rosenblatt

NEW YORK — Rick Dutrow is still wondering what went wrong with Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes. He's also wondering why everyone seems to be ganging up on him.

Expert: Loose shoe didn't foil Big Brown
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By Janet Patton
It probably wasn't the shoe. A photo of Big Brown at the start of his Belmont flub showing his horseshoe separated from his right hind hoof looks startling. Mike Iavarone, co-owner of Big Brown, apparently thought so when somebody showed it to him.
Congress hearing on horse racing set
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Topics to include breeding practices, track safety, steroids

By Janet Patton
Top Thoroughbred racing figures -- including the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown -- will answer questions next week in Washington on horse deaths, drugs and the industry's "special status" regarding gambling.
Controversy reigned throughout 2008 Triple Crown
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PUBLIC'S ENAMORED OF TRIPLE CROWN, BUT NOT OF STEROIDS

By John Clay

To plug the collectors edition DVD of his movie City Slickers, Billy Crystal was on Letterman last week accompanied by a miniature Shetland pony he called “Little Brown.”
Big Brown's stud value not likely to plummet
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LOSS NOT NECESSARILY A DOWNER

By Janet Patton

Walking out of the barn on Saturday before the Belmont, Big Brown was looking like a six-figure stud to a lot of people; walking back after his shocking loss, the picture was a little fuzzier.
High price for Smarty Jones, but not for other winners of two Crown races

By Janet Patton

Popular Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones stands for $100,000 at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, future home of Big Brown.

Big Brown's trainer blasts jockey's ride

DUTROW FEELS 'LIKE A LOSER'
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. says he feels "like a loser" after Big Brown's stunning last-place finish in the Belmont Stakes, and he was still searching for answers Monday about what went wrong.
Big crown letdown

Jockey eases up Big Brown in the stretch

By Maryjean Wall
One hundred yards before the final turn, at the pole telling jockeys they have five-eighths of a mile remaining to the finish, Big Brown's rider knew in his heart of hearts that the Belmont Stakes was over for him -- and without a Triple Crown.
You might pity the horse, but not his trainer

By John Clay
An uneasy silence hung in the Long Island air. With his elbows leaning on the barn rail, his blue shirt soaked through with perspiration, Rick Dutrow just kept watching Big Brown walk round and round the shed row of the Test Barn.
Casino Drive scratched from Belmont
Casino Drive will not run in the Belmont Stakes because of an injured hoof, removing one more obstacle between Big Brown and the Triple Crown.
• Sportscaster Jim McKay dies at 86
Calm before Crown

By Maryjean Wall

It's all over but for the coronation. Big Brown wraps up his Triple Crown campaign Saturday in the $1 million Belmont Stakes and he's as close to a sure thing as a mortal horse can be.
Primed for a run at history

BIG BROWN HAS THE BEST CHANCE IN RECENT MEMORY

By John Clay
To Rick Dutrow, there is no such thing as what if. The way Big Brown's trainer pictures it, his horse will break easily from the No. 1 hole in Saturday's Belmont Stakes, avoid whatever sinister strategy his opponents have concocted, find an inviting stretch of sandy track over which to gallop, surge to the lead, extend the lead, hit the wire, and become the sport's first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.
Casino Drive questionable for Belmont

By Maryjean Wall
ELMONT, N.Y. — Casino Drive, the would-be spoiler in Big Brown’s Triple Crown quest, is questionable for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. The possibility exists he might be scratched.
Big Brown's biggest obstacles

Casino Drive impresses Big Brown connections

By Maryjean Wall

ELMONT, N.Y. — Hertz took a peek at Avis here at Belmont Park on Thursday, when Big Brown's managing partner, Michael Iavarone, got his first glimpse of Casino Drive.
Humans get in way of history

NO CHEERING HERE FOR A CROWN CHAMP

Mark Story

What I know: If Big Brown wins the Belmont on Saturday, it will end a 30-year Triple Crown drought.
Big Brown won't run Belmont on steroids

Associated Press
Big Brown will not run on steroids Saturday in the Belmont Stakes, trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said. Dutrow created a stir before the Preakness when he said all the horses in his stable, including Big Brown, received a monthly shot of Winstrol, which is legal in New York.
The field for the Belmont Stakes
6:25 p.m. Saturday (ABC) • Elmont, N.Y.
ABC needs to get this Belmont right

John Clay

I'm not worried about Big Brown when it comes to Saturday's 140th running of the Belmont Stakes.
THE DRAW

Long shot likes the distance

Non-winner Guadalcanal challenges Big Brown

By Maryjean Wall

ELMONT, N.Y. — Big Brown's rivals in the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday range from Casino Drive, undefeated in two starts, to a colt who has never won a race, called Guadalcanal.
Biggest Big Brown obstacle: Belmont

By Maryjean Wall
No one was talking Triple Crown in April, when the trees had not leafed out, when nights were cold and the Kentucky Derby seemed far off.
Herald-Leader turf writer Wall retiring

By Jim Warren

Herald-Leader staff writer Maryjean Wall, a three-time Eclipse Award winner who has covered thoroughbred racing since 1973, is retiring.
Vet gives Big Brown the go-ahead

By Maryjean Wall

His feet won't fail him now.
Comparing the best
Comparative times are not always the best ways to evaluate horses.
Preakness chart
Payouts and times
PREAKNESS STAKES

Two-thirds of the Crown for Big Brown

By Maryjean Wall
Big Brown sprinted away from his competitors in the stretch to win the $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Saturday.
Horses that have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness
(x-won triple crown)
Big Brown poised to set up Triple Crown bid

By Beth Harris
Rick Dutrow Jr. is nearly as confident that undefeated Big Brown will win the Preakness on Saturday as he was before the colt's dominating win in the Kentucky Derby.
The field for the Preakness
Saturday, 6:15 p.m. (NBC) • Pimlico Race Course
What's wrong with race horses?

As hardiness decreases, no clear cause emerges

By Alicia Wincze
It is a frame built inherently for speed -- long and lean with dynamic quarters and hard, polished legs. At its best, it can produce athletic feats that leave even casual fans breathless.
NTRA to refocus on safety

STEROIDS MAY BE BANNED FOR '09 DERBY

By Maryjean Wall
A racing industry group held a board meeting Friday to discuss horse safety with the group's president, Alex Waldrop, reflecting that in the past, "perhaps we didn't push forward with enough urgency."
Heartbreaking losses turn horse fans away
Post a comment

For some, only change can help

By Linda B. Blackford
Jo Wickline, who has owned and ridden horses for 40 years, did not watch the Kentucky Derby this year for the first time. Slide shows: Eight Belles' collapse (Might be disturbing to some viewers.) • The race, including Eight Belles • Behind the Headlines: Another horse is fatally injured; should you see it?
Big win; sad place

Favorite's victory is third Derby for jockey

By Maryjean Wall
Hard toward the finish, with giant strides propelling the plain but powerful Big Brown to victory in the Kentucky Derby by 43/4 lengths, the moment should have belonged entirely to the winner and his jockey, Kent Desormeaux, who was capturing the race for the third time.
VIDEO: Derby 2008: It was a big big day
Kentucky Derby field and connections
All the essentials for a day at the track will fit in a purse

By Harriett Hendren

All you need to enjoy a day at the Derby or the Oaks is a sense of adventure and a well-stocked purse.
KENTUCKY OAKS

Pure Clan overlooked, not overmatched

STABLEMATE OF BIG BROWN GETS FIRST SHOT AT A CHURCHILL TRIUMPH

By Alicia Wincze
As Pure Clan made her way off the track Wednesday morning fresh from her trip around Churchill Downs, there was no pack of media tracking her every twitch, no throng of photographers fighting to get the best shot of her elegant chestnut frame.
2008 Kentucky Derby post positions (PDF)
Big talk for Big Brown

'I CAN'T SEE A HORSE BEATING HIM,' TRAINER SAYS OF WIRE-TO-WIRE FLORIDA DERBY WINNER

By John Clay
Is Big Brown a freak? Or is he fraud? Is he the second-coming of Barbaro, a lightly seasoned 3-year old sitting on the best race of his life? Or is he the second coming of Bellamy Road, a lightly seasoned 3-year old who peaked too soon?
Murphy memorial design is unveiled

ART GARDEN TO HONOR LEGENDARY JOCKEY, OTHERS

By Jennifer Hewlett
Ever-changing video walls, "waves" of grass and a 3-D representation of a legend in thoroughbred racing -- things intended to reflect movement -- will dominate the new Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden.
EQUINELY EQUIPPED

Fleming County students have a stable learning environment

By Amy Wilson

FLEMINGSBURG — It is as normal a morning as mornings get in the ag barn at Fleming County High School, and suddenly someone yells, ”Peanut is loose.“
Looking for some Derby doings?
Visit http://calendar.kentucky.com and click on “Derby-related events” in the left column under “Popular Searches” to see what’s going on this week in Derbyland.
Make your own Derby button (PDF)
Political campaigns, with all the talk of front-runners and favorites, are in full swing as the best of the thoroughbred world charges into Kentucky for the Derby. Create your own politically-themed Kentucky Derby button (click here for details).
Kentucky Derby winners
Filly Rags to Riches wins Belmont Stakes
Rags to Riches outpaced Curlin down a dramatic stretch to win the 139th Belmont Stakes and become the first filly to win the third leg of the Triple Crown since 1905.
FLEET STREET

By Maryjean Wall
A half-mile into the Kentucky Derby, Street Sense was sucking up the dirt kicked back by 72 horse hoofs flying fast in front of him.
• (PDF) Street Sense preview section cover
• TRAINER || OWNER || JOCKEY || Audio
• Celebrity photos || Multimedia || BUY reprints
• POLL || AUDIO: Call of the race
• Derby chart || Street Sense's trip
• Derby winners
KENTUCKY OAKS

Rags to Riches wins the Oaks

By Rick Bailey
Rags to Riches led a wave of four fast-closing fillies to a convincing 4 1/4-length victory in the $589,200 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs.
• Derby Prep blog: A star is born
• Slide show
Morning line favors Curlin in full field

Juvenile champ Street Sense is second choice

By Maryjean Wall
The juvenile champion, Street Sense, had to step aside and take second choice to undefeated Curlin in the Kentucky Derby morning line announced yesterday.
Curlin made Derby favorite after drawing post No. 2

By Maryjean Wall
Curlin will break from post position No. 2 as a slight favorite at 7-2 over Street Sense in the 133rd Kentucky Derby.
Coming up this week
• Queen Elizabeth II's arrival in Kentucky.
You pick who goes to the Derby
We asked for deserving folks, and you responded with an amazing cross-section of Kentuckians.
2006 KENTUCKY DERBY RECAP

BARBARO'S ROSES

Edgar Prado wins his first Derby by impressive margin

By Maryjean Wall
Barbaro was loping back to collect his roses, winding down after winning Kentucky Derby 132 as second betting choice, when jockey Edgar Prado made clear what the race had been about.
» Kentucky Derby and Preakness slide shows and multimedia

THE DERBY DOZEN: A winner within
After more than a month of past-performance and pedigree researach, video viewing and numerous discussions with owners and trainers, we believe one of these 12 horses will be wearing the winner's circle of roses on May 3. » The Derby Dozen (.pdf) | Searchable database: Triple Crown nominees

2007 KENTUCKY DERBY

THE FIELD FOR THE 133RD KENTUCKY DERBY

2007 TRIPLE CROWN TRAIL
Kentucky Derby winner: Street Sense
Preakness Stakes winner: Curlin
Belmont Stakes: Rags to Riches

FLEET STREET

By Maryjean Wall

A half-mile into the Kentucky Derby, Street Sense was sucking up the dirt kicked back by 72 horse hoofs flying fast in front of him.
• (PDF) Street Sense preview section cover
• TRAINER || OWNER || JOCKEY || Audio
• Celebrity photos || Multimedia || BUY reprints
• POLL || AUDIO: Call of the race
• Derby chart || Street Sense's trip
• Derby winners

By Richard Rosenblatt

By Janet Patton

Topics to include breeding practices, track safety, steroids

By Janet Patton

PUBLIC'S ENAMORED OF TRIPLE CROWN, BUT NOT OF STEROIDS

By John Clay

LOSS NOT NECESSARILY A DOWNER

By Janet Patton

By Janet Patton

DUTROW FEELS 'LIKE A LOSER'

Jockey eases up Big Brown in the stretch

By Maryjean Wall

By John Clay

By Maryjean Wall

BIG BROWN HAS THE BEST CHANCE IN RECENT MEMORY

By John Clay

By Maryjean Wall

Casino Drive impresses Big Brown connections

By Maryjean Wall

NO CHEERING HERE FOR A CROWN CHAMP

Mark Story

Associated Press

John Clay

Non-winner Guadalcanal challenges Big Brown

By Maryjean Wall

By Maryjean Wall

By Jim Warren

By Maryjean Wall

By Maryjean Wall

By Beth Harris

As hardiness decreases, no clear cause emerges

By Alicia Wincze

STEROIDS MAY BE BANNED FOR '09 DERBY

By Maryjean Wall

For some, only change can help

By Linda B. Blackford

Favorite's victory is third Derby for jockey

By Maryjean Wall

By Harriett Hendren

STABLEMATE OF BIG BROWN GETS FIRST SHOT AT A CHURCHILL TRIUMPH

By Alicia Wincze

'I CAN'T SEE A HORSE BEATING HIM,' TRAINER SAYS OF WIRE-TO-WIRE FLORIDA DERBY WINNER

By John Clay

ART GARDEN TO HONOR LEGENDARY JOCKEY, OTHERS

By Jennifer Hewlett

By Amy Wilson

By Maryjean Wall

By Rick Bailey

Juvenile champ Street Sense is second choice

By Maryjean Wall

By Maryjean Wall

Edgar Prado wins his first Derby by impressive margin

By Maryjean Wall

By Maryjean Wall