 The morning of the Kentucky Derby, Turcotte asked Laurin if he could cut larger holes in Riva Ridge's blinkers because it would help the horse should he need to go to the front early in the race.While Laurin thought it was too late to make changes, he allowed Turcotte to alter the blinkers as long as it wouldn't hurt the horse's chances.In the Derby, the other jockeys held their horses back early on, as Turcotte expected, and Riva Ridge took the lead early, holding it throughout the race to win by lengths.