Desormeaux Glad to Ride at Santa Anita

So far, Kent Desormeaux is convinced he made the right choice when he opted to make California his home rather than New York.

“The weather’s terrible here, isn’t it?” he laughed Sunday. “I think I made the right choice. The first thing I said when I saw (Santa Anita) was that they race at resorts here. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

The teen-ager who turns 20 on Feb. 27 will see his first action at Santa Anita Wednesday. Desormeaux, who earned an Eclipse in 1989 because of his record-setting 597 victories, has five mounts.

A winner of 1,521 races in the last three years, the Louisiana native knows his days of domination are behind him, but he is still confident he’ll more than hold his own.

“I know where I am and I know I’m not going to be in a spot where I win four or five a day,” Desormeaux said. “We’ll ride as many as we can.

“All the best riders are here. Hopefully, we can be a little better than them or on the same scale.”

Other eastern-based riders have talked about a permanent move to California, but have left after things didn’t take off the way they had hoped.

The way Desormeaux talks, he plans on being here for quite some time. “I sold my house and got rid of everything I had in Maryland,” he said. “We’re making this home. You’re going to need a crowbar to get me out of here.”