Going into Saturday’s
Preakness S. (G1), many felt that Cash is King LLC’s
AFLEET ALEX (Northern Afleet) should have won the Kentucky Derby (G1) two weeks
ago. They felt so strongly about it that the sophomore left the gate as the 3-1
favorite in the 14-horse field. The fast early pace from the Derby wasn’t
expected to materialize again here, and everything looked set for a
competitive, but uneventful, renewal.
High Limit (Maria’s Mon) moved to the front when the gates opened, but it was
Jeremy Rose aboard Afleet Alex who made the most impressive early move. The
Eclipse-award winning rider immediately pulled his mount toward the inside after
breaking from post 12 and took up a position just off the rail while racing in
10th. High Limit was also on the rail, but in front setting a reasonable pace
through splits of :23, :46 and 1:10 3/5. Just to his outside were Going Wild
(Golden Missile) and Scrappy T (Fit to Fight), pressing the early pace into the
backstretch.
So far, everything was setting up for an exciting, but normal, finish in the
1 3/16-mile Preakness.
As the field entered the final turn, Rose and Afleet Alex moved from their
ground-saving position along the rail and swung out wide. By that point, High
Limit and Going Wild both had faded a bit, leaving Scrappy T and jockey Ramon
Dominguez by themselves on the rail. Dominguez went to the whip leaving the turn
and that’s when the 130th running of the Preakness almost turned tragic.
Scrappy T veered away from Dominguez’s left-handed whip, moving right into
the path of Afleet Alex. That one clipped heels and lost his footing, stumbling
to his knees and almost sending Rose to the track in front of the on-coming
field. Somehow, the talented colt managed to get his hoofs back underneath him
and Rose stayed aboard.
The pair courageously continued, moving to the inside with Rose going to the
whip. From there, it was just a question of how much they would win by, with the
final margin being 4 3/4 lengths.
“Around the first turn, I tried to get down, on the backside I was about two
or three wide, saw a horse trying to make a move to get past on the outside, so
I got back in,” said Rose, describing his historic ride. “It was a really well-executed trip by Alex for the most part. I just kind of followed his lead. It
wasn’t so much my athleticism, as it was Alex. He could have very easily went
down and we could have been run over by the field.
“He’s an amazing horse. No horse I’ve ever seen in any race stumbled like
that, ” Rose added. “And I don’t know any horse stayed up after going that close
to the ground. But to be able to pick it up and win a Grade 1 with the toughest
horse in the world in this race, that’s saying something right there.”
Afleet Alex, who stopped the clock in 1:55 over the fast Pimlico track,
rewarded his faithful supporters with payouts of $8.60, $5 and $3.20. The bay
colt was on top of the $152.60 exacta, $872 trifecta and nice $10,362.30
superfecta ($1) (12-5-13-10). Scrappy T was much the best of the rest of the
field, returning $11.20 and $5.80 at 13-1. Kentucky Derby victor Giacomo (Holy
Bull) lost his chance to become only the 12th Triple Crown winner when finishing
another five lengths back in third. He gave back $4.80 at 6-1 and it was one
length farther back to Sun King (Charismatic).
High Limit came next and was followed under the wire by Noble Causeway
(Giant’s Causeway), Greeley’s Galaxy (Mr. Greeley), Malibu Moonshine (Malibu
Moon), Closing Argument (Successful Appeal), High Fly (Atticus), Hal’s Image
(Halo’s Image), Wilko (Awesome Again), Galloping Grocer (A. P Jet) and Going
Wild.
“I’ve been a trainer over 30 years, so you put your time in at the small
tracks, you finally get an opportunity to find a horse of this ability, believe
me it’s the horse,” trainer Tim Ritchey said. “Horses make trainers, trainers
don’t make horses. I don’t care who tells you what. He’s the star. And I was
just fortunate enough to come across this horse and, you know it’s a little
sweeter, probably the fact that it took me 30 years to get here, and I’ve done
it through a lot of cheap races, cheaper horses, a lot of hard times.
“I think he’ll go a mile and a half without a problem. I always have. Ever
since I had him as a two-year-old in the Breeders’ Cup. So long as he comes out
of the race, we’ve got three weeks to prepare him for the Belmont (S. [G1]). My
plans at this point are to go forward to the Belmont.”
Afleet Alex exits Saturday’s race with a bankroll now of $2,165,800 to go
along with his 11-7-2-1 lifetime mark. He gave notice something special was
ahead when breaking his maiden debut by 11 1/4 lengths in late June of last
year. Ritchey didn’t rush his charge, sending him in an allowance
next out, which resulted in another double-digit win. Moving right on up in the
juvenile social standings, Afleet Alex proceeded to annex the Sanford S. (G2)
and Hopeful S. (G1) before suffering his first career loss in the Champagne S.
(G1), where he ran second by a half-length. He wasn’t favored in the Breeders’
Cup Juvenile (G1) while making his final start as a two-year-old, but accounted
himself well, filling the runner-up spot yet again.
Ritchey pulled an audible for Afleet Alex’s sophomore bow, saddling him for a
2 3/4-length score in the Mountain Valley S. instead of training up to his
expected 2005 debut in the Rebel S. (G3) two weeks later. It was in the latter
test that the colt ran his worse race to date, finishing sixth, but it was later
determined he had a lung infection at that time. An eight-length win in the
Arkansas Derby (G2) validated that Afleet Alex was well on his way once again,
leaving the Kentucky Derby next on his path.
A fast pace developed in the 1 1/4-mile classic, catching many flat-footed,
but Afleet Alex was one of the few near the lead who managed to hang around at
the wire. He entered the Preakness off his Derby third with reputation still
intact and proceeded to prove best against overwhelming odds, and not of the
betting kind.
Bred by John Martin Silvertand in Florida, Afleet Alex is the
third-registered foal out of the winning Maggy Hawk (Hawkster) and sold for
$75,000 as a Fasig-Tipton May two-year-old. His older full brother,
Unforgettable Max, is a stakes winner from last year and also placed in the
General George H. (G2) and Tom Fool H. (G2). The pair also have a yearling
half-sister named John’s Diamond (Tour d’Or) and an unnamed 2005 half-sister by
Quiet American.
Afleet Alex has overcome much during his life. Hand fed from a beer bottle after his dam
couldn’t produce milk, the bay colt continues to give hope to others fighting
for survival. A portion of all his earnings goes to Alex’s Lemonade Stand for
Pediatric Cancer Research, which was started by Alexandra “Alex” Scott when she
was four-years old. In 1997, just two days before her first birthday, Scott was
diagnosed with an aggressive childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. She started
her first lemonade stand in July of 2000 and, as word spread, raised more than
$1.6 million from donations worldwide. Sadly, Scott lost her battle with cancer
in 2004, but her Foundation continues to grow and help others.
“I said before, hopefully, Belmont day, I would move for every racetrack to
have a lemonade stand on Belmont day throughout the entire United States and
give a dollar to the lemonade stand or their local juvenile cancer fund,”
Ritchey said. “And, like I said earlier, everybody who was fortunate enough to
bet on this horse, makes a little money, just take $1, donate it to Alex’s
Lemonade Stand or local juvenile cancer fund, and maybe we can make the world a
better place.”