Big Brown was pulling away from the field, accelerating with every powerful stride toward thefinish line in the Kentucky Derby.
The crowd of 157,770 was on its feet and cheering as the big, unbeaten, muscular bay crossedthe line first, 4¾ lengths ahead of the filly Eight Belles.
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. was still celebrating, along with thousands of happy bettors, as BigBrown and the 19 other horses in Saturday's race galloped out around the first turn at ChurchillDowns.
It took a few minutes to sink in, but anyone watching those horses soon realized that one ofthem had fallen to the track.
"It's the filly," someone whispered. She went down about a quarter mile past the finishline.
In just a few minutes, the joy of the Derby and the promise of a new Triple Crown season wereupended when Eight Belles was euthanized by injection on the track.
She had broken both front ankles and could not be saved.
"This horse showed you his heart," winning jockey Kent Desormeaux said, "and Eight Bellesshowed you her life for our enjoyment today. I'm deeply sympathetic to that team for theirloss."
Big Brown did everything his owner said he would do. An explosive finishing kick put away hisrivals for his fourth consecutive victory.
Eight Belles, meantime, was attempting to become the fourth filly to win the Derby. Her ownerschose to keep her out of Friday's Kentucky Oaks so she could run with the boys in the Derby. Andrun she did.
Big Brown's start from the outside post did little to hamper his charge when the field turnedfor home. Under the urging of Desormeaux, the 2-1 favorite cruised to an easy victory to become theseventh undefeated Derby winner. The last one was Barbaro in 2006.
That wasn't the only reason thoughts of Barbaro were hard to ignore on this Derby Day.
The breakdown brought back memories of the 2006 Preakness, where Barbaro shattered his rightrear leg just after the start. The colt was euthanized months later, after developing laminitisfrom the catastrophic injuries.
In two weeks, Big Brown will race in the Preakness as the only 3-year-old with a chance tobecome the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.
"We're ready to roll," Dutrow said.
All week, Dutrow told the world he had the best horse in the field - and the big bay coltjustified every accolade tossed his way.
"I can't describe the feeling that all of us have right now," he said.
The colt became the first Derby winner since Regret in 1915 to have raced only three timespreviously. He is only the third in 60 years to win after racing in just two Derby preps - Sunny'sHalo in 1983 and Street Sense last year were the others.
In addition, Big Brown became the second winner to start from the No. 20 post. The geldingClyde Van Dusen did it in 1929.
Big Brown covered the 1¼ miles in 2:01.82 in front of the second-largest crowd in Derbyhistory. He paid $6.80, $5 and $4.80.
Eight Belles paid $10.60 and $6.40, and Denis of Cork, at odds of 27-1, returned $11.60.
Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Derby's on-call veterinarian, said the filly's injuries were toosevere to even attempt to move her off the track.
"She didn't have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, soshe was euthanized," Bramlage said.
Trainer Larry Jones paid tribute to his fallen filly saying, "She ran the race of herlife."
And he defended having her run against 19 colts in the Derby.
"It wasn't that. It wasn't the distance. It wasn't a big bumping match for her. She never gottouched," he said. "She passed all those questions ... with flying colors. The race was
over, all we had to do was pull up, come back and be happy. It just didn't happen."
Tale of Ekati was fourth, followed by Recapturetheglory, Colonel John, Anak Nakal, Pyro,Cowboy Cal, Z Fortune, Smooth Air, Visionaire, Court Vision, Z Humor, Cool Coal Man, Bob BlackJack, Gayego, Big Truck, Adriano and Monba.
The colt earned $1,451,800 for the win and boosted his earnings to $2,114,500 for owners IEAHStables and Paul Pompa Jr. Pompa, who named Big Brown in honor of United Parcel Service, a clientof his trucking business, sold a 75 percent interest in the colt to IEAH for about $3 million afterhis first race.
Desormeaux won the Derby for the third time, having won aboard Real Quiet in 1998 and FusaichiPegasus in 2000. Only three other iders have won more - Eddie Arcaro, Bill Hartack and Billhoemaker.
"
It was smooth sailing all the way," Desormeaux said. "The orse was very comfortable."
Big Brown was the third favorite to win in the past five years. marty Jones won in 2004 andStreet Sense won last year.
All eyes were on Big Brown at the start. Dutrow called his colt he fastest of all and heproved it when Desormeaux gunned him lose the lead on the mad dash to the first turn. Desormeauxdid a masterful job of keeping Big Brown free and clear of any traffic ssues.
As the field headed into the backstretch, Big Brown was in sixth place and waiting forDesormeaux's signal to make his move. It came around the far turn, and Big Brown took the lead atthe top of the stretch and was never challenged to the wire.
"I don't even know what we just did," Dutrow said. "I can't express my feelings, only that itwas one of the most incredible feelings I ever had, and I can't wait to feel it again."
