Racing: Stumble but Alex gets up and wins

BALTIMORE - Afleet Alex survived a near-disastrous collision at the top of the stretch and easily captured the Preakness Stakes yesterday.

As Afleet Alex attempted to take over on the final turn, race leader Scrappy T abruptly swung to the outside and clipped heels with the bay son of Northern Afleet.

Afleet Alex nearly fell to his knees, almost sending jockey Jeremy Rose to the dirt but recovered in a big way to roar to a 4 3/4-length triumph over Scrappy T.

"The instinct was to hang on and to get my balance underneath me," Rose said. "Someone pulled my butt out of the fire on that one."

Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo used a big move in the stretch to claim third but was never a serious threat in the second jewel of United States thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.

Giacomo was 11th for much of the race and was fifth at the top of the stretch. But the grey colt was no match for the brilliant late-race sprint by Afleet Alex.

The winning time for the race over a fast track was 1 minute 55 seconds, well off the Preakness record of 1min 53sec set by Louis Quatorze in 1996 and Tank's Prospect in 1985.

Rose, a Preakness rookie but a veteran on the Maryland circuit, said without the bumping incident Afleet Alex would have won even more easily.

"We should have won by 10 lengths," Rose said. "We were rolling. We were going real fast."

Afleet Alex, the race favourite, paid $8.60, to a $2 stake, $5 and $3.20 for his victory. Scrappy T returned $11.20 and $5.80, while Giacomo paid $4.80.

Scrappy T veered to the right because jockey Ramon Dominguez used his whip with the left hand.

Rose, a former wrestler, used all of his athletic ability to hang on, grabbing the mane of the horse.

"He was about eight inches [20cm] from going down," Rose said of the colt. "I thought for sure we were going down. There was quite a bit of contact."

Dominguez said he was "just happy" he and Rose stayed on their horses.

"When I hit him left-handed, he didn't like it and came out unexpectedly," he said. "It completely caught me off guard."

Afleet Alex finished third in the Kentucky Derby after being lured into a speedy pace. The pace suited trainer Tim Ritchey perfectly.

"I thought we were rolling just fine [until the collision]. "I couldn't believe he got up and won the race."

For the first time in four years, the Belmont Stakes will not have a chance to host a Triple Crown champion. The final leg of the series will be June 11 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

- REUTERS