Derby Trainer Finds Redemption

Ten years ago, Richard Dutrow Jr. was living in a racetrack barn. Disowned by his dad, renowned horse trainer Dick Dutrow, he was a drug-addicted mess. “I was living fast,” Dutrow tells USA Today. “I got myself into all sorts of nickel-and-dime scrapes.” Now, Dutrow is the trainer of Big Brown, the oddsmakers’ favorite in tomorrow's Kentucky Derby.

Dutrow was shaken from his stupor when his girlfriend was murdered in front of their 2-year-old daughter. Soon after, he was discovered by would-be owner Sandy Goldfarb. “I swear to you (Dutrow) didn't have $100 to his name,” Goldfarb says. “And if he had $100, he’d spend it feeding the horse rather than himself. That’s what struck me about him. I knew he was a horseman.” (More Kentucky Derby stories.)