Afleet Alex trips his way to Preakness victory

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."