Desormeaux sparkles in guiding Beyond Brilliant to Hollywood Derby score
DEL MAR, Calif. – When Kent Desormeaux is locked in, there may be no finer rider in the room out here, and the past week or so at Del Mar, he’s been putting on a clinic.
After a fallow start to the meet, Desormeaux has come roaring to life the past four racing days, with eight wins in his past 14 mounts, including three stakes, the biggest of which occurred Saturday, when he guided Beyond Brilliant to a front-running upset in the Grade 1, $404,500 Hollywood Derby.
Desormeaux had ridden Beyond Brilliant twice previously, and the lessons learned in those two starts were put to good use Saturday. During the summer meet here, when Desormeaux rode him for the first time, Beyond Brilliant led start to finish in a first-level allowance.
In his next and most-recent start, the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita, Beyond Brilliant stalked from an outside post and managed to finish only third while uncomfortable playing that role.
Back at Del Mar, and with an inside draw in the Hollywood Derby, Desormeaux repeated his tactics from the summer, and Beyond Brilliant responded in kind, holding off a late bid from Santin to win by a neck.
Cathkin Peak was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third, with Public Sector, the 9-5 favorite, fourth. Subconscious, winner of the Twilight Derby, was fifth, then came, in order, Zoffarelli, Flashiest, Sifting Sands, Hudson Ridge, Camp Hope, It Can Be Done, Dicey Mo Chara, Team Merchants, and In Effect. Airman, the lone also-eligible, was scratched.
Beyond Brilliant ($23.80) posted fractions of 23.96 seconds for the quarter, :49.23 for the half, 1:13.62 for six furlongs, then stormed home, covering the mile in 1:36.96 before completing 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:48.84. Beyond Brilliant was given a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
Desormeaux said the credit “goes to the barn” of trainer John Shirreffs.
“It’s beyond brilliant what they’ve done since last time,” Desormeaux said, saying Beyond Brilliant was far more manageable Saturday than in the Twilight Derby.
“He was content,” Desormeaux said. “And he was a tough customer the last eighth of a mile.”
Shirreffs, who trains Beyond Brilliant for the CRK Stable of Lee and Susan Searing, said Beyond Brilliant is “much better on the lead.”
“He relaxes better,” Shirreffs said. “Kent rides him beautifully.”
Shirreffs said he and Desormeaux “have had our ups and downs,” but beamed, saying, “Kent’s riding so great.”
Desormeaux, 51, a three-time Kentucky Derby winner who entered the Hall of Fame in 2004, has turned a corner after hitting rock bottom during the summer meet here in 2020, when he called a Black cameraman the ugliest of pejoratives and was banned from the track. He subsequently went to a rehab facility in Pasadena, Calif., to address long-standing issues, and it’s clear from the color of his face, and the clarity of his voice, that he’s in a better place now.
“The support has been tremendous, even more so with social media,” Desormeaux said. “People who can’t pat me on the back leave messages, and it’s very humbling.”
As for Beyond Brilliant, this was his third win in nine lifetime starts, and his second in five grass tries. Beyond Brilliant is a 3-year-old by Twirling Candy out of the First Defence mare Summer On the Lawn. He was purchased as a 2-year-old in training for $200,000. Saturday’s winner’s share of $240,000 puts him well into the black.