Legendary jockey Kent Desormeaux failed a breathlyzer test at Belmont Park on Friday and has been taken off his mount for the Preakness at Pimlico on Saturday, according to Tim Wilkin of the Albany Times Union. Desormeaux has battled alcohol problems throughout his career, and this latest incident has now cost him his ride on Tiger Walk in the Preakness. Via TimesUnion.com:
Preakness 2012: Kent Desormeaux Fails Breathalyzer, Taken Off Tiger Walk
It didn’t take long for the connections of Desormeaux’s Preakness ride, Tiger Walk, to act. The colt, owned by Sagamore Farm, about 30 minutes from Pimlico Race Course, now will be ridden by New York-based rider Ramon Dominguez.
Desormeaux was scheduled to ride in three races at Belmont on Friday, which requires a breath test for all jockeys under NYRA regulations. He apparently had a blood-alcohol content higher than .05, which is the threshold for a jockey being unfit to ride.
Tiger Walk is a local Baltimore horse, owned by Kevin Plank, the founder and CEO of Under Armour. Desormeaux was initially chosen to ride Tiger Walk after Dullahan, his Kentucky Derby mount, pulled out of the Preakness.
For more on the Preakness, stay tuned to this StoryStream or check out SB Nation’s horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come.
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