SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
IS KNEES WERE INCHESfrom the ground.
Afleet Alex, a 1,200-pound thoroughbred traveling at 30 mph, was less than a second away from tragedy; from hitting the hard dirt here Saturday evening at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore and going down in front of a dozen other charging horses in the Preakness Stakes.
And holding on to Afleet Alex for his life was jockey Jeremy Rose, out of the saddle and nearly over his colt's neck. "I thought for sure we were going down," Rose said. "My thought process was, 'I'm going to get run over."'
So did everyone else in this record crowd of 115,318 watching the 130th Preakness. For a moment there was fear and dread when the longshot Scrappy T, veered in front of Afleet Alex at the top of the stretch and the two clipped heels.
"I thought they were going down," said Tim Ritchey, trainer of Afleet Alex.
Pulled away after stumble
But then, suddenly, as if led by guardian angels, remarked Ritchey, Afleet Alex incredibly gathered himself, came back underneath Rose, and then determinedly drove away to a memorable 43/4-length victory.
Afleet Alex's spectacular victory put an end to Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo's hopes of becoming the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown. The gray colt finished third, five lengths behind runnerup Scrappy T, and a length in front of fourth-place finish Sun King.
But the star of this day, and certainly the most courageous, was Afleet Alex, a colt purchased for $75,000 by Ritchey for five friends from Philadelphia and New Jersey. Third in the Kentucky Derby and the $3.30-1 favorite here, Afleet Alex covered the 13/16-mile in 1:55.04. But it wasn't his final time that earned Afleet Alex a place in racing history as much as the way he accomplished his victory.
Rode smart race
Amazing. Miraculous. Startling. Use any to describe what Afleet Alex and Rose overcame at the head of Pimlico's 1,152 foot stretch. But you must begin at the start with Rose. Just 26 and only riding five years, Rose smartly guided Afleet Alex to the inside after breaking from post No. 12 and saved ground around the first turn and down the backstretch.
Rose patiently rated Afleet Alex in seventh down the backstretch while racing inside and slightly in front of Giacomo. Around the final turn, after Scrappy T, took the lead from the tiring pacesetter High Limit, Rose moved Afleet Alex boldly past Closing Argument and Greeley's Galaxy and moved within a length of Scrappy T, and jockey Ramon Dominguez.
Then they entered the stretch.
Having drifted in-and-out down Aqueduct's stretch April 30 when winning the Withers, Dominguez felt Scrappy T, "looking around when we came into the stretch." Dominguez wound up and delivered a left-handed crack of his whip to Scrappy T. The colt wildly veered right and directly into the path of a driving Afleet Alex.
"When I hit him left-handed he didn't like it and came out unexpectedly," Dominguez said. "It completely caught me off guard. I didn't feel a bump but he did lose his rear action."
Just clipped Scrappy T
Rose felt Afleet Alex's front heels clip the back heels of Scrappy T, and for a moment there was reason to fear the incident could result in a terrible tragedy when Rose's colt dropped nearly to his knees. But Afleet Alex's athleticism and Rose's strength turned a nightmare into a dream ending. It mirrored a similar incident in 1987 when Alysheba managed to win the Kentucky Derby despite going to his knees in the stretch when rival Bet Twice came over on him.
When Rose was asked was what prevented him from going down, he replied; "He's (Afleet Alex) just that athletic and I was that scared."
"This horse has all kinds of athletic ability," he added. "I think he can do backflips if he wanted."
First for Ritchey
Added Ritchey; "Truthfully, I've been training for over 30 years, and I've seen horses take bad steps and still win. But I haven't seen them stumble that bad, gather themselves in a Grade I race, and still win."
Ritchey said one of the reasons he believes Rose and Afleet Alex overcame the incident was the relationship between the two.
"Jeremy absolutely has complete confidence in the horse," he said. "He thinks (Afleet Alex) is from Krypton. He thinks he's super horse."
And on Saturday evening he was.