LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- For anybody concerned about morning-line favorite Big Brown's outside post position, Kent Desormeaux offered some soothing words Thursday.
"I think it's the perfect post for the horse after being dealt the 16 card to draw," Big Brown's jockey said. "For me, it works out perfect."
Desormeaux, the only two-time Kentucky Derby winner in the race, isn't worried that no horse has won from post No. 20 since 1929, going 0 for 11 since then.
Desormeaux said the long run to the first turn will give him plenty of time to put Big Brown in good position. In the Florida Derby, Big Brown won from the No. 12 hole - after breaking sharply and taking the lead for good.
"The Florida Derby and this race are like apples and oranges," Desormeaux said. "I had 50 feet to get to the first turn; we've got 5/16s of a mile (in the Derby)."
Desormeaux will have plenty of speed horses directly to his left, including Gayego at 19, Recapturetheglory at 18, Cowboy Cal at 17 and long-shot front-runner Bob Black Jack at 13. But he said Big Brown has enough natural cruising speed that he won't need to expend too much energy to avoid getting hung wide on the first turn. He will angle the son of Boundary toward the rail, but how far, he doesn't know.
"I don't know where I'm going to be," he said. "Does pace make the race⢠Yes, pace makes the race, but my horse's pace, his ultimate cruising speed is where I want to set him up at. That's just something I'm going to feel. I don't know where it's going to be. Big Brown will tell me where that is."
