To put Kent Desormeaux's riding career in perspective, consider that
in his worst year during a quarter-century career, his mounts earned
$4.6 million in purses.
The Hall of Famer
has 5,391 victories, including three Kentucky Derbys, and ranks No. 5
all-time in purse earnings at almost $240 million. Desormeaux won the
Derby and Preakness as recently as 2008 on Big Brown and captured the
2009 Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup on Summer Bird.
Last
fall he took the $2 million Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic on Unrivaled
Belle for trainer Bill Mott, who for the past few years was his main
outfit.
So it
might seem a bit odd to think that the 41-year-old Desormeaux came to
Louisville for the spring meet for the first time, but that's what he
did. His 13 wins put him in a tie for sixth in the Churchill standings,
though well behind Corey Lanerie's meet-leading 27. But he has won a
meet-high three stakes.
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