PRIORITIES CHANGE FOR DESORMEAUX.Byline: Kevin Modesti LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As much as anything about the Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. , Kent Desormeaux Kent J. Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970, in Maurice, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year. says, he enjoys the sounds. The weighty rattle of the starting gate starting gate n. Sports 1. A series of stalls with interconnected doors that open simultaneously at the beginning of a race. 2. as the doors slam shut behind the last horse to line up. The gathering roar of the crowd in the moment before the race begins. The frenzied roar of the crowd as he rides a winner down the long Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. stretch, something he has done twice now, sounds pretty sweet, too. Desormeaux and his wife, Sonia, got some bad news a couple of weeks ago. Their younger son, 14-month-old Jake, may never experience the delight of those sounds or any others. Tests confirmed that Jake was born deaf. It's an affliction to which the jockey can relate, having lost the hearing in his right ear in a December 1992 racing accident at Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
``It's depressing to think your child is going to grow up without being able to hear music,'' Desormeaux said. Like ``My Old Kentucky Home''? His family's tragedy put Desormeaux, 30, in a different mood as he approached Saturday's Derby, in which he rode the favored Fusaichi Pegasus Fusaichi Pegasus (pronounced [ɸɯ.sa.i.tɕi]) (foaled April 12, 1997) was purchased as a yearling for $4 million by Fusao Sekiguchi. to a convincing victory. The pressure that accompanied his 1998 Derby victory and Triple Crown near-miss with Real Quiet seemed far away this time. ``A month ago, I was devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. , I was very sad, I was depressed,'' Desormeaux said after becoming the 21st jockey to win two or more Derbies. ``I think it helped.'' Helped? ``I was able to come home and get into the books about sign language,'' said Desormeaux, a Louisiana native who lives in Bradbury, Calif., not far from Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
At Churchill Downs, in the days before the Derby, Desormeaux ``took time to slow down and look around.'' ``Everything seemed to slow down this year,'' he said. ``Maybe because there were things to be more concerned about. We all get enthralled en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. with that oval that I ride around. It was time to think about more important matters.'' Sonia attended the Derby while the couple's sons Joshua, 7, and Jake stayed in California. Kent and Sonia are doting dote intr.v. dot·ed, dot·ing, dotes To show excessive fondness or love: parents who dote on their only child. [Middle English doten. parents who often bring their children to watch their father compete at the West Coast tracks. Josh was at Churchill Downs when Desormeaux won the Derby with Real Quiet. ``Dad,'' he asked, ``was this a really big one?'' Tad Dowd, an entertainment promoter who is a friend and advisor of Kent's, said a fellow jockey and his wife recently tried to buck up the Desormeaux's by telling them, ``Special parents get special kids.'' ``I think they're going to find a way to make it a positive,'' Dowd said. The Desormeauxs got the doctor's report four days after Kent and Fusaichi Pegasus won the Wood Memorial in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . They'd feared Jake was deaf because he didn't respond to their voices. There is hope that the condition can be improved through surgery. A ``cochlear cochlear pertaining to or emanating from the cochlea. cochlear duct the coiled portion of the membranous labyrinth located inside the cochlea; contains endolymph. cochlear nerve see Table 14. implant'' will be attempted, inserting electrodes that would simulate nerve endings. But the solution wouldn't be total. ``You have the luxury, if you're in the middle of the street, of being able to hear a car coming and get out of the way. He won't have that,'' Desormeaux said. ``We'll have to change some things in our lives to insure his safety.'' Their other son, Josh, was born while Kent was in the hospital in 1992, recovering from multiple skull fractures sustained when a mount named Judge Hammer swerved and dropped him in the path of other horses. Judge Hammer was trained by Neil Drysdale, same as Fusaichi Pegasus. Josh delighted his parents by making it clear he'll do his part to make life normal for his little brother. ``Sonia and I were crying, and Josh looked over and said, `Mom, don't worry, Jacob and I will be able to have secrets nobody else knows,' '' Kent said. ``This has brought the three of us - Sonia, Josh and me - closer together.'' Desormeaux, who broke national records and won three Eclipse Awards earlier in his career, will go to Baltimore to ride Fusaichi Pegasus in the May 20 Preakness Stakes. If he wins there, it's on to New York for the June 10 Belmont Stakes and a shot at the Triple Crown that eluded Desormeaux by four inches with Real Quiet. ``Right now I could fly without an airplane,'' he said. ``I'm sky high.'' But matters at home will keep his feet on the ground. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jockey Kent Desormeaux celebrates while being escorted into the winner's circle at Churchill Downs. Ed Reinke/Associated Press |
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