Preakness Stakes (Grade 1)

ON Saturday evening, the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes was won by the by the even-money favourite, Journalism. No big deal really?

But no, the race, the last before the redevelopment of Pimlico, proved one of the most dramatic in recent Triple Crown history, as the Kentucky Derby second had to force himself out of a pocket at the top of the straight, losing five lengths to the leader Gosger and, once on an even keel, run down that colt, to snatch victory by half a length, and without coming under severe pressure from rider Umberto Rispoli.

Track announcer Larry Colmus caught the drama perfectly in his race call, from the final bend: “Journalism is sixth, he has a lot of ground to cover, he is still five lengths behind as they make their way towards the top of the stretch” to his final furlong cry, “Journalism is still running on, he might even win it! Oh my God, Journalism has won the Preakness Stakes in a performance like you read about!”

Comparisons for the drama and outstanding races at the track threw up Secretariat’s last-to-first move in the 1973 Preakness, a stretch duel between Sunday Silence and Easy Goer in the 1989 and Alfeet Alex’s win in 2005 after almost being brought down on the bend.

Clever Again led and was in front after a half-mile in 46.66 secs, with Gosger, River Thames and American Promise chasing. Rispoli had Journalism sixth along the rail.

On the turn, Gosger went after Clever Again, while Journalism was boxed in along the rail. As Gosger went on, Rispoli made his move and came out but the gap was a narrow one between the tiring Clever Again (who would finish last after being taken up) and Goal Oriented and Flavien Prat on his outside.

“A little gap was opened and I say, it’s now or never,” Rispoli said. “He switched his lead and boom, he took off. When I crossed the line, all 20 of my years of riding crossed in front of me. I had to wait so long to ride a champion like that.”

Final time for the mile, a furlong and a half was 1m55.47secs. A brief enquiry left the result unchanged.

All angles

With instant replays from all angles, head-on and over-head, viewers were able to make up their own minds on who was responsible for the incident, which kept Journalism in a pocket and ended the chance of Clever Again on the rail.

No sanctions were issued to riders but opinions differed on who was culpable. The overhead seemed to show Flavin Prat on Goal Oriented pulled his horse over to prevent Journalism getting through. Rispoli was having none of it and his mount courageously held his ground and fought his way through, with Clever Again receiving a bump on the rail and being forced back and Goal Oriented also receiving a bump to his hindquarters. Did Rispoli force open a gap that wasn’t there? Many were of that opinion also.

The win also proved trainer Michael McCarthy correct asking his horse to come back two weeks after the second place in the mud at Churchill Downs, something the Derby winner Sovereignty avoided. It was his second Preakness win after Rombauer in 2021.

“When I saw that (bumping), I thought it was another solid effort, and, unfortunately, he was going to come up just a little short,” McCarthy said afterwards. “Hats off to Umberto and Journalism for persevering. I think today you saw what it takes to be a champion. Today was his day.”

Journalism’s ownership group consists of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, breeder Don Alberto Stable, Robert V. LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, and Coolmore, who secured his breeding rights back in late March and will stand the son of Curlin when he retires.

Took guts

“It took guts for Michael McCarthy to make this call to come here. It took guts for Umberto Rispoli to get sideswiped and thread the needle and power on through. And it took guts from an incredible horse to somehow will his way to victory,” Aron Wellman of Eclipse and managing partner of the ownership group said afterwards, reported on BloodHorse.

Robert LaPenta, another of the owners said: “This is one of the most impressive runnings of the Preakness I’ve ever seen. He had no business winning. It shows what a warrior he is, two weeks after a tough race.”

Showdown

The question now is, will the two top colts meet for a showdown in the Belmont at Saratoga in two weeks?

Journalism’s owners did not rule it out. “As I said before, and as it always will be, the horse will come first. We’ll evaluate him. We would love to go. I think this ownership group has made it very clear we take this seriously and we want to be good ambassadors for the industry and we’ll certainly keep it under consideration,” Wellman said.

Journalism arrived at Saratoga early in the week while his connections decide whether or not to run in Belmont.

Gosger, trained by Brendan Walsh, settled for second two and a quarter lengths ahead of Sandman.

“I’m disappointed not to win it, but I am not disappointed in the horse,” Walsh said. “He ran a great race.”

Sandman finished third, four lengths ahead of the Bob Baffert-trained Goal Oriented.

Jamie Osborne’s Heart Of Honor was soon feeling the pace, well back in eighth place, but ran on past tired horses to take fifth under Saffie Osborne.

Journalism was purchased for $825,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s 2023 The Saratoga Sale and now has earnings of $2,838,880.

Betting

The track announced that betting on the Preakness Day card was $110 million, the second-highest in history and up 11.7% from last year’s $98.5 million.

There was less drama in the top fillies’ contest, Grade 2 the George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, run over nine furlongs on a muddy track on the Friday.

Victory went to Margie’s Intention (Honor A.P) by three-quarters of a length for the Brad Cox/Flavien Prat team for owners Baron Stable and WinStar Farm LLC. Godolphin’s Paris Lily took second for Brendan Walsh and Joel Rosario.