2005 Preakness Stakes

After nearly going down when bumped by Scrappy T entering the stretch, a gutsy Afleet Alex recovered and went on to win the $1-million Preakness (gr. I) in impressive fashion Saturday at Pimlico.
It was the fifth straight year the favorite won the Preakness, but it might have been the most dramatic of any of those runnings.
Coming out of the turn for home, jockey Ramon Dominguez smacked his whip left-handed on the leader Scrappy T, who bore out into the path of a charging Afleet Alex and Jeremy Rose. Afleet Alex, the 3-1 favorite, clipped heels and nearly went down. But he righted himself, straightened away, and drove to the wire to win the middle leg of the Triple Crown.
As the field broke from the gate, Rose steered Afleet Alex him from the 12 post in the 14-horse field toward the inside rail. The colt was in the two-path as the field headed around the first turn. Scrappy T had made the lead out of the gate, but High Limit and Going Wild soon took over and Scrappy T settled into third. They went the opening quarter in the 1 3/16-mile race in :23.17, and the half-mile in :46.07, not as fast as the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) two weeks ago, but quick nonetheless.
www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racin...

[@TauAlphaVu]

It's 17 years later and Afleet Alex not only managing to stay on his feet but then powering home for the win is still one of the most impressive athletic feats I've ever seen.

[@Kostly]

And to go to the Belmont Stakes and do what he did....Afleet Alex one of the very best horses in the 21st century.

[@suedalshaug3804]

I have always said , Alex gave us one of THE BEST thrilling Preakness races to date. What an incredible athlete Afleet Alex was !!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@jamesdavis8731]

Was a groom for a long time, trained race horses, saw lots of crazy shit. This might be the most amazing thing (besides Secretariat's Belmont win) than I have ever seen. The rider staying on was a miracle, but the horse not breaking a leg, not going down, and gathering himself to go on and win the race is just incredible. Gives me goosebumps every time I see it.

[@callmeishmael4659]

Rose hardly moved. I think that call was completely overblown, he never "almost came out of the saddle". As for Afleet Alex, for him to some how not break a leg and go onto win, yes, absolutely incredible. Why did Scrappy T have to blow the turn? We were in for a helluva stretch battled between those 2

[@berndtherrenvolk1951]

Afleet Alex's acrobatic recovery and immediate rocket-off to victory looked like something from a "Michael Jordan Top Highlights" video.

[@RoeserFan1]

I was at this Preakness and the incident was very visible to us in the crowd. Drama of the highest order. An awesome performance by both the horse and rider.

[@Kostly]

I couldn't imagine the electricity in that crowd. WOW!

[@clintonpearson3163]

I do not care what anyone else thinks but the 2005 Preakness and Belmont are the most outstanding displays of athleticism ever in horse racing, no horse has ever had that push button burst of speed, should have won the derby easy, jockey.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

Risen Star did the same thing in 1988.

[@johntringali3217]

Greatest races I ever saw.

[@reallytooy3187]

Nah that was Secretariat

[@damianpearce4964]

Alex was injured from the Preakness during the derby. Rather than harm him Jeremy pulled back. Then ironically PETA attacks him for whipping a horse in the face.. Which was an accident.

[@chrispafrieddreams9118]

That weren't no ordinary horse..

[@Antonio-Mlb]

This is my favorite horse of all time, what a heart this horse has he is unreal! should have won the tc.

[@JCarsonBlack]

Mine too.

[@Bumbacali7176]

Definitely in my top 3 of all time .. definitely should of won triple crown 👑

[@thesingleequestrian413]

Yes and at least Rose admitted he screwed up that derby ride

[@ken45y]

@@thesingleequestrian413 I know what a shame.

[@biff5856]

Ah, morally Alex won the Derby.

[@lisao9486]

Might be the only time a horse turned in the #1 play on Sportscenter

[@Kostly]

Afleet Alex and Zenyatta are my two favorite horses in the 21st century. There have been TC winners, and a lot of accolades dished out to both of these horses...both deserving ALL the accolades.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

Fortunately, Jeremy Rose had a lot of practice with incidents like this, as he regularly rode at Delaware and Parx.

[@donnaf9551]

Best race ever !! Of course I won almost 1000. That day with my trifecta afleet Alex has always been one of my all time favorite horses to go down on his knees and win with such a big lead !! Supper horse !

[@robmatijevich8910]

Nice, Donna... I had the trifecta as well, and I had it boxed...so i stood to make more had Scrappy T won. However, when Alex made that incredible save, the horse lover in me had me rooting for him to win and not the longshot ScrappyT. What an athlete!!

[@johnfsu6789]

I've never seen a horse close as much distance as Alfeet Alex. Amazing. This horse should have been a TC winner.

[@hayzyhorses6899]

Johnfsu It resembles Mine That Birds derby, he went from very last to first.

[@loryhorn7113]

The 2009 Derby by Mine that Bird would compare.

[@hayzyhorses6899]

Lory Horn That’s what I said, but yes, it is an amazing derby

[@stonesinmyblood27]

Johnfsu nothing compares to what Secretariat did on the first turn at The Preakness in 1973

[@virginkillers4657]

How about the 2 year old Arazi !!

[@robmatijevich8910]

Bump. 2019. Alex was the WarOfWill of 2005, except Alex recovered from the trouble and actually won. Equine athleticism of the highest order!

[@DanielSong39]

Scrappy T pulled a Maximum Security Giacomo would've stolen that one had Afleet Alex not recovered

[@hermmdawgg3584]

@@DanielSong39Maximum Security did nothing like Scrappy T. War of Will actually ran up MS's azz. Jeez.

[@Ethan-dn1wc]

This was more on Domínguez than it was on Scrappy T. Scrappy T never had a left handed whip before Domínguez should have known better than to try it for the first time in the middle of the far turn. He should've held off till the top of the stretch before trying that.

[@ken45y]

@@hermmdawgg3584 I saw a slow mo video someone broke down. Freaking BS.

[@davidcole4604]

I was at his dominating Belmont 3 weeks later. The best horse I've ever seen in person. We were jumping around at Belmont, me and strangers "He looked like Risen Star, Bet Twice, Seattle Slew!"

[@crooked9810]

Risen Star was Secretariat's son.

[@OfficialMuffiin]

@@crooked9810 omg who cares, why cant you secretariat fanboys watch any horse video without mentioning him? Theres a lot of great horses besides secretariat.

[@mus3415]

@@OfficialMuffiin Funny how you assumed that they were a "fanboy" lmao

[@OfficialMuffiin]

@@mus3415 you can always spot the fanboys because they mention secretariat on literally every horse racing video

[@mus3415]

@@OfficialMuffiin Same with people who are fans of Man O' War, American Pharoah, Justify, etc. No one can enjoy anything without a fan of another horse, eh?

[@JCarsonBlack]

My favorite horse of all time. Talk about an acrobat!! And then he comes back and wins the Belmont by eight.

[@uhegbu]

Incredible and dramatic race.

[@gunloc26]

This race right here shows what a GREAT horse Afleet Alex was back in the day...especially considering he had Rose as his jockey. Just imagine how great he would of been...if a decent rider had been on him during that time?!!

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

Rose was the leading rider at Delaware and most jockeys would have gone down in that situation.

[@damianpearce4964]

lol. decent jockey. I would say Jeremy is excellent.@@raygordonteacheschess5501

[@callmeishmael4659]

well that's the trainer's fault for picking Rose.. really just too bad, should've been a TC winner

[@terrifictroll1916]

Many horses have had better careers and done more due to circumstances..but only 2 horses i have ever seen in my lifetime with such raw natural powerful ability at their best..and they are Easy Goer and Afleet Alex

[@richardlefaive1944]

Sec not going to make the list though ?

[@richardlefaive1944]

@Sophia Schommer I recall both and they definitely had a way about them. Great horses worthy of mention years later. Yet, perfectly groomed track or no ... Sec smashed that track record by 2+ FULL SECONDS! Winning by a ludicrous 30 lengths. And that track record stands for the Belmont to this day. No other horse has even seriously challenged it. Those facts speak for themselves as to just how good a run that race was. It has to be deemed the finest single race ever run by a horse. He also went on to win a special "all comers" event that featured all the best 3, 4, and 5 years olds later that season. Forget the name of that stakes race but the field was rated as one of the highest quality of all time and ... he won by 5 lengths going away from the field at the line. As the lone 3 year old in it I believe. Regardless of whether his overall record is as impeccable as a handful of others or not, for me he is very obviously the finest physical specimen and the most talented horse in my 55 year lifetime.

[@berndtherrenvolk1951]

@@richardlefaive1944 He said that he "had seen during his lifetime." He probably didn't actually get to see Secretariat run.

[@sscraddock]

What an amazing athlete A fleet Alex was.

[@mallorys728]

The greatest racehorse ever to not win the Triple Crown. Period.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

To me that would be Alydar.

[@helixcheerleader]

Sham's not a bad candidate either.

[@piper52195]

Spectacular Bid is a worthy candidate as well

[@JohnSmith-zy4hf]

Barbaro. Shared belief.

[@bigr6298]

Mallory S mm Man O War takes that honor. Unless you don't count him because he didn't run in the Derby?

[@nickyd.4695]

They almost went down, Rose gathered him in immediately and got him right back to business. Just some great riding by the kid.

[@richmatonti9819]

Nice little horse, alot of heart.

[@kelleybunny]

alex best horse in my lifetime.

[@d.yapundich8014]

My favorite too. What an athlete. I remember when it happened. Too many horses in the Derby. I have to see him in Kentucky.

[@truelyequestrian3583]

People always the Belmont is the hardest but I would argue that the derby is just as hard because of how many horses there are.

[@DanielSong39]

Scrappy T would have been disqualified

[@cindyzormeier3361]

Seen Afleet Alex at the Breeders Cup the year before when it was at Lone Star Park in Texas

[@patrickduncanjr.6847]

There saying how amazing the jockey is but the horse not going down is simply unbelievable

[@stanleyjensen1950]

Scrappy T ducked from the 'left-handed' stick, he didn't 'blow the turn.'

[@stanleyjensen1950]

www.amazon.com/Black-Deuce-Stan-D-Jensen-ebook/dp/B0721YVFXL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

[@robmatijevich8910]

Correct. I even made the same mistake. Ramon Dominguez and his roundhouse left-hand whipping freaked Scrappy T. Never liked the way RD wound up that crop. Whips are necessary, but I’m convinced they do more harm than good.

[@christinecolburn2735]

You are 100% right!

[@jeromegittens772]

Afleet Alex should have won all three races. He should have never come third in the derby.

[@DanielSong39]

Nah, he was third best. It happens.

[@thesingleequestrian413]

Afleet Alex was like WTFur and Oh Hell no! Best run ever!

[@helixcheerleader]

This Preakness is my favourite alongside American Pharoah's.

[@adotintheshark4848]

Surprising a foul wasn't called. For a second it looked like Scappy T's rider was trying to ride Afleet Alex too!

[@sherrywright9139]

Wow what a tough hockey and horse

[@govindmatondkar7502]

Unbelievable

[@Caroni100]

Afleet Alex (May 9, 2002 - ) * Sire: Northern Afleet * Grandsire: Afleet * Dam: Maggy Hawk * Damsire: Hawkster * Sex: Stallion * Breeder: John Martin Silvertand * Owner: Cash in King Stable * Trainer: Tim Ritchey * 12 Starts * 8 Wins * 2 Seconds * 1 Third * $ 2,765,800 earned * 2005 U.S. Champion 3-Year-Old Male Colt * 2005 NTRA "Moment of the Year" Greetings from Venezuela Afleet Alex (9 de Mayo, 2002 - ) * Padre: Northern Afleet * Abuelo materno: Afleet * Madre: Maggy Hawk * Abuelo materno: Hawkster * Sexo: Semental * Criador: John Martin Silvertand * Propietario: Cash in King Stable * Entrenador: Tim Ritchey * 12 Salidas * 8 Primeros * 2 Segundos * 1 Tercero * $ 2,765,800 producidos * Campeón Tresañero de Estados Unidos 2005 * "Momento del Año" NTRA 2005 Saludos desde Venezuela.

[@StFidjnr]

Nearly shades of go for wand's tragic fell in the 1990 BC Distaff

[@behumble2756]

The horse fighter....

[@safderlodi6966]

Replay must be given please

[@StFidjnr]

1:52 the belmont will be a TC dead rubber race

[@wendylinkem6201]

That was insane. The big A should have lost that.

[@bearinpinkk5072]

Here is an alternative thought of the race. What if afleet Alex loses his jockey causing scrappy t to be DQ and giamco the winner. What happens in 3 weeks?

[@tedthepony7521]

Lucky

[@LilyRoseBecker]

What are the masks that race horses wear called?

[@amandabilger2235]

I think what you are referring to is blinkers. Some horses get distracted so the trainers use blinkers to keep their attention where it should be.

[@LilyRoseBecker]

@@amandabilger2235 nope I found out on tiktok that they are actually called hoods but thanks anyway bro🤘👌

[@amandabilger2235]

@@LilyRoseBecker I spent close to 20 years working with Thoroughbreds. They do not wear hoods. They are called blinkers.

[@LilyRoseBecker]

@@amandabilger2235 ha nope they are called hoods search horse hoods on the internet and they will show up bro

[@amandabilger2235]

@@LilyRoseBecker I don't need to do a search. Like I said before I worked with Thoroughbreds for close to 20 years, I know what they are called. If you tell someone at the track to go grab the blinkers they will go get that. If you tell them to go get the hood they are going to look at you like you are a moron, because you are. What you also are is a troll.

[@davidrosado9642]

AFLEET CLIPPED SCRAPPY AND NOT THE OTHER WAY!

[@I_Am_TheUniverse]

That is what I used to think until I saw this video explanation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZepq4J6pKlqj7s

[@JACKDAWFISH]

LOL same BS as what War of Will did to Maximum Security. Why wasn't Scrappy T taken down several spots? because it was Afleet Alex who hit him from behind. Scrappy didn't "blow the turn" he was run into and he made the exact same momentary jump MS did. Sorry but the horse coming from behind has to find a clear path, not run through the horse in front. Afleet Alex was the better horse and got his victory, MS was robbed of his but has dominated since (and where is War of Will now?)

[@valerierodger7700]

Since Afleet Alex beat him, it's kind of hard to make a case that the interference adversely affected how the horse finished in the race.

[@GesminKuzulert]

こっわ