Desormeaux: Slow start doomed Big Brown at Belmont

Big Brown jockey Kent Desormeaux talked to Sports Illustrated 's Dan Patrick about why the favored horse fell short in the Belmont Stakes and what's next for the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness .

AUDIO: Dan Patrick talks to Kent Desormeaux

DAN PATRICK : Let's start with the pre-race. Did you notice anything with Big Brown ?

KENT DESORMEAUX : Absolutely not, Dan. That horse was in perfect condition and he never took one bad step.

DP: When you were in the gate with this horse, were you thinking anything different than previous races?

KD: No, I was hoping for a nice, clean, pure break and I didn't get that. He slipped up front and kind of scrambled away from the gate and had already given up a length. That first quarter of a mile, that first turn could have been my demise. I had to rein him in, he was a little aggressive. Maybe it was too much time off. If he would have broke smart, my intent was to just wire the field. I thought the track was fast. I was hoping to break running and that didn't happen, I already had to call an audible. I reined him in. I actually was quite happy to get that position I was in, after we rounded into the first turn. But it took a lot of work to get it.

DP: If I said you could have a do-over with that horse, what would you do differently?

KD: Given the situation I was in, there's nothing I could have done differently. I would have only hoped to break smarter. If we do it over again 100 more times, he's probably going to leave three in front and all they would have seen was his tail. Unfortunately, you now, the race track lost its ability. They lost water for probably two hours. The track that usually a horse can get a hold of had dried out and gotten powdery. So it wasn't normal to say the least.

DP: Steroid factor -- did that have anything to do with that horse and how it ran or did not run on Saturday?

KD: No, absolutely not. You know, what steroids do is make a horse hungry and aggressive, and if you watch the race, he was definitely aggressive. And he never came out of the feed trough since they put him in the barn. All he does is eat. So I'm absolutely certain that steroids had nothing to do with it. The slippage, the first step out of the gate, probably was his demise.