Preakness Notes
Going into the Preakness, Afleet Alex was a suspect horse to a lot of people. He showed up for all his races, he was consistent, yet he didn’t seem quite good enough. “Afleet Alex, likeable as he is for his consistency and durability, had a relatively clean trip in the Derby and was simply outfinished by Giacomo and Closing Argument,” wrote Steven Crist. “You can say he moved a shade too soon, which is what most people said when he was outfinished by Proud Accolade in the Champagne and by Wilko in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The excuse is wearing thin, and the fact is that he is 1 for 5 in races at a mile or longer. He can win, but he might be worth playing against as the favorite.” (Daily Racing Form — sub. req)
Afleet Alex’s dramatic Preakness win yesterday should silence all such critics. Recovering as quickly as he did from the incident at the top of the stretch, romping home by more than four lengths — it was an amazing performance by a tough, athletic, and courageous colt, who is unquestionably the best three-year-old in training right now.
So, what did happen at the top of the stretch? Afleet Alex clipped heels with Scrappy T after jockey Ramon Dominguez took the whip to Scrappy as he was changing leads and appeared to lose focus. Explained Dominguez:
“The horse took me completely off guard. I felt like he was easing back on me, looking around some, and I decided to hit him left-handed, and I think it completely caught him off guard because he made a right-hand turn.” (Baltimore Sun)
Said trainer Robbie Bailes, “[Scrappy T] has a tendency when he gets to the front to look around a little bit.”
Rider Jeremy Rose was sure he and Alex were down for good and was planning how he’d survive the fall:
What was your thought process?” a reporter asked Rose.
“My thought process was I was going to get run over,” the jockey said….
“That’s the closest I’ve ever been [to the ground] without falling,” Rose said. “I thought for sure we were going down. I was going to try to go down with him as close as I could because I figured that was my best shot [of surviving].” (Baltimore Sun)
Luckily, Afleet Alex bounced right up. Rose credited the colt with “90 percent” of the save, but as Andy Beyer writes today: “Even if his modest assessment is correct, [Rose’s] 10 percent contribution earned him a lasting place in Preakness history.” Beyer praises Rose’s ride and says he’s now a “major leaguer” (Washington Post). That’s an assessment that can’t be argued. Rose expertly maneuvered Afleet Alex to the rail at the start of the race, saving ground, sat cool through the middle, and then angled to the outside at the top of the stretch to take the lead.
Also fortunate is that Afleet Alex exited the race with only a minor scrape on his left front ankle. “He’s lucky. He just took the skin off. I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” said trainer Tim Ritchey, who speculated that the scrape occured as Alex regained his footing. (Daily Racing Form)
As for the rest of the field …
Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo finished third, almost 10 lengths behind Afleet Alex. Jockey Mike Smith said he got caught in traffic:
“I didn’t get loose until we got to the quarter pole. I was just stuck right behind them,” Smith said. “I could have went around, but that was an awful long way to go around. I was going to lose at least 10 lengths.”
His only option was to hope for an opening. By the time he found one, it was too late.
“I was waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,” Smith said. “I was able to get out and make my run, but by then they were gone.”
Every time he looked for a hole, the gap was filled. That’s the difference between finishing first and third. (Blood-Horse)
If Alex had gone down, Scrappy T would have been disqualified and placed last. Giacomo would have won the Preakness and been on his way to the Belmont, a potential Triple Crown winner, Matt Graves points out. “It would have been a worse injustice than the Red Sox losing to the Mets on Buckner’s error.” (Times Union)
Going Wild finished abysmally, last by more than 42 lengths. “Those fractions were too much for my horse,” lamented trainer D. Wayne Lukas. “I don’t think he’s got the quality for these; he’s one-dimensional” (Blood-Horse). I think this race brings Going Wild’s margin of loss up to something like 120 lengths in his last four starts. Poor outclassed colt.
Closing Argument, who finished ninth, didn’t like the track, said trainer Kieran McLaughlin: “He fought the racetrack today.” Before this dismal performance though from the Kentucky Derby runner up (who also had never finished worse than third before yesterday), owners Philip and Marcia Cohen sold half the horse to Sequel Bloodstock and JMJ Stable. Cohen wouldn’t say what the final price was, only that it was “quite a bit” more than the $2 million that had been bandied about earlier this year. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Mike Brunker perfectly expresses why this race was so incredible:
In the blink of an eye on Saturday, Afleet Alex stated in the clearest terms possible why those who love the sport of horse racing revere its shooting stars — those tremendous athletes who surpass our expectations not in pursuit of money or glory, but because they are born to greatness.
The Triple Crown races have had their share of dramatic moments in their storied histories, but Afleet Alex’s victory in the Preakness Stakes after clipping heels with Scrappy T and nearly falling at the top of the stretch was an instant classic, simultaneously breathtaking and mind-boggling. (MSNBC)
