Afleet Alex exits eventful Preakness win in good shape

Afleet Alex came out of his close call on Saturday with just a scrape (Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com) Preakness S. (G1) hero AFLEET ALEX (Northern Afleet) came out of Saturday’s hair-raising race in fine condition with only a superficial scrape on his left front ankle, trainer Tim Ritchey said Sunday. However, the bay colt, who clipped heels with Preakness runner-up Scrappy T (Fit to Fight) and almost went down, will stay at Pimlico until Friday instead of shipping to Belmont Park on Wednesday, as earlier planned. “We’ll have to monitor him for at least three or four days,” Ritchey said of the decision. “What concerns me is (the chance of) muscle injuries, because he was contorted in a way that horses aren’t meant to be. But he walked perfect today.” Jockey Jeremy Rose swung Afleet Alex wide around the final turn in the Preakness, at the same exact moment that Scrappy T, who was in front, shied away from Ramon Dominguez’s left-handed urging. Afleet Alex clipped heels with his rival and stumbled badly, almost sending Rose to the track. However, the game sophomore recovered his balance and Rose, who managed to stay in the saddle, immediately went back to riding his mount. The pair crossed under the line 4 3/4 lengths ahead of Scrappy T. “The Steelers had the Immaculate Reception. What do you call this? The Immaculate Recovery?” said Ritchey, who is a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers football fan. “You’ve got a great athlete in the rider and a very superior athlete in the horse. The horse has to maintain his balance, but the rider has to maintain his balance on top of the horse, as well. It was a combination of things and a lot of luck, too.” Ritchey also credited the amazing recovery and victory to Afleet Alex’s temperament. “I’ve never seen him get upset about anything, ever,” he said. “He has never shied or spooked from anything he’s been exposed to. He is Mr. Laid-back.”

Rose, who said that Dominguez apologized after the race for incident, thinks
Afleet Alex won’t have any trouble getting the 1 1/2-mile distance of the
Belmont S. (G1) on June 11.

“If you’ve got enough horse under you, you just have to wait a little
longer,” the Eclipse-award winning rider said.

Scrappy T is already back at Delaware Park and also came out of the race
“super,” according to trainer Robbie Bailes.

“We haven’t thought about his next race,” Bailes said. “We’ll talk about it
for the next couple of days. We have options, but the main deal is to see how he
is. We want to make sure that he doesn’t come up body sore.

“Both horses lost momentum,” he said of the near spill. “It’s a credit to
both horses that they went on and finished strong.”

Kentucky Derby (G1) victor GIACOMO (Holy Bull) left Sunday for California.
Owner Jerry Moss said he would discuss the possibility of the Preakness third-placer
running in the Belmont with trainer John Shirreffs.

All three of Nick Zito’s Preakness runners — SUN KING (Charismatic) (4th),
NOBLE CAUSEWAY (Giant’s Causeway) (6th) and HIGH FLY (Atticus) 10th) — came out
of the race fine, but probably won’t go on to the third jewel of the Triple
Crown, the conditioner said. However, Zito added that Sir Barton S. winner
Pinpoint (Peaks and Valleys) could join Andromeda’s Hero (Fusaichi Pegasus) in
Elmont, New York, for the classic test.

Preakness fifth-place finisher HIGH LIMIT (Maria’s Mon) came out of the race
in good shape and will get a little break after shipping back to New York.

GREELEY’S GALAXY (Mr. Greeley), seventh in Saturday’s feature event, left for
California Sunday morning.

“He came out of the race very good, and he was perfect this morning,” trainer
Warrent Stute said. “He had no excuses in the race, and that’s not good. So, now
we’ll bring him home and sit down with owner (B. Wayne Hughes) and evaluate him
and his future.”

Local favorite MALIBU MOONSHINE (Malibu Moon) finished eighth in the Preakness
and immediately returned to his Laurel Park stall after the race.

“He came out of the race OK,” trainer King Leatherbury said. “We knew we
didn’t have the best of chances going in, but we had an opportunity to run in the Preakness, and if you have an opportunity to run in this race, you take
it. We had
to take a shot.”

CLOSING ARGUMENT (Successful Appeal), second in the Derby and ninth in the
Preakness, will get some time off, according to conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin.

“We’ll just sit back and let him have some time off,” McLaughlin said. “We’ll
take a look at the Haskell ([G1] on August 7) and Travers ([G1] on August 27),
but nothing sooner.”

McLaughlin said his charge bled a little during the race, “…three on a
scale of 10…”

HAL’S IMAGE (Halo’s Image) hit the road on Sunday for the van ride back to
Calder in Florida. The dark bay colt ran 11th in the Preakness and will stay in
Florida for the time being, trainer Barry Rose said.

WILKO (Awesome Again) also started his journey home Sunday, heading back to
California off a 12th on Saturday.

“He bled a little, and I guess the Derby took a little more out of him than
we thought,” trainer Craig Dollase said. “The plan right now is just to let him
rest and regroup for a while, and then we’ll decide where we go next.”

GALLOPING GROCER (A. P Jet) finished 13th as the 27-1 long shot in the
Preakness, and returned to his Belmont base Sunday.

GOING WILD (Golden Missile), last in the 14-horse field, will not go on to
the Belmont, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.

“I’m going to start doing with him what he does best — keep him under a
mile,” the Hall of Fame conditioner said. “He’s quick.”

Lukas added it’s possible but “…less than 50-50” that recent maiden winner
A. P. Arrow (A.P. Indy) will go in the Belmont.