Simmering anger over Kent Desormeaux’s ride on Mister Brightside in Saturday’s Hollywood Derby at Del Mar in California has turned into a transatlantic war of words after Desormeaux responded to criticism from Jeremy Noseda, Mister Brightside’s trainer, with a robust defence of his performance, including a suggestion that Noseda “can kiss my ass”.
Mister Brightside, who is part-owned by the former Derby winning-jockey Walter Swinburn, was drawn against the rail in a 14-strong field for the race but was slow to leave the stalls and then settled about a dozen lengths off a strong pace.
Desormeaux stuck to the rail until the stretch and, though Mister Brightside was still travelling well, his rider could not find any room to launch a challenge as the field bunched ahead of him. Desormeaux then appeared to accept that his chance had gone and eased down to finish ninth behind Chiropractor, the 14-1 winner.
Noseda tweeted a reaction to Desormeaux’s ride a few hours later, saying that it was the “first time I have ever had a jockey ‘school’ my horse in a Grade One”. He later suggested that he was disappointed not just by Desormeaux’s ride but also by the jockey’s attitude in the aftermath.
“It was a very poor ride and he didn’t ride to instructions,” Noseda told the Racing Post, “but what annoyed me most and stirred me into sending the tweet was the rude response I got when asking a perfectly civil, simple, decent question. I have never experienced rudeness like that in my whole career.
“I was shocked. He was rude to me and he was rude to my lad. It was an ill-mannered lack of class one wouldn’t expect from a Hall of Fame rider.”
Desormeaux, however, returned Noseda’s criticism with interest on Wednesday via an interview with The Paulick Report, a leading US racing news website.
“This is a simple fact of him trying to save grace by blaming the rider,” Desormeaux said. “He wants to play games. He wants to light me up and say ‘Desormeaux was rude’. This is bullshit. He can kiss my ass.”
The jockey also suggested that his initial impression after the race was that Noseda’s travelling head lad was more angry about the ride than the trainer.
“I got off the horse and he jumped down my throat,” Desormeaux said. “He said, ‘Why didn’t you just let him run?’ I said, ‘Where? Over the horses in front of me?’ I was trapped like a rat.
“There was never any place for me to go. The horse did not break; he lunged out of the gate.” The rider added that Noseda “patted me on the back, apologised and said ‘no worries’.”
Noseda, who arrived back from the United States on Wednesday morning, said later that racing fans should watch the race for themselves and judge whether his response was justified.
“As I stated, I said nothing about the ride other than making my tweet because of his rudeness to myself and my staff following the race,” Noseda said.
“I would say to anyone, get on YouTube and watch the 2015 Hollywood Derby and make their own ideas up about the ride,” Noseda said.
“His most recent comment ‘kiss my ass’, make your own mind up what you think about Kent Desormeaux with a comment like that to a trainer. I feel I’ve been dignified in what I’ve done, I’ve no problem with that. Let people make their own minds up.”
