Thoroughbred Report

(A)Fleet of Foot Indeed

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Fleet: Moving swiftly; rapid or nimble.

While certainly meeting all of the traditional requirements for being fleet, it is for the 'nimble' part of the definition that Afleet Alex's Preakness Stakes will be remembered.

Coming around the final turn, jockey Jeremy Rose fired Afleet Alex into an emerging hole and rode a rocket out into the stretch. Gaining rapidly on Scrappy T, Afleet Alex was preparing to engage that horse on the outside. Engage is not strong enough. Afleet Alex was about to blow the doors off Scrappy T.

Jockey Ramon Dominguez, aboard Scrappy T, had just taken the lead in the race and could sense the finish line less than a quarter of a mile away. He could also sense his charge losing interest in the race after having attained the lead. Dominguez fired a sharp smack of the whip on Scrappy T's left hip. Instead of the desired effect of spurring the horse on, Scrappy T reacted like he had just been stung by world's largest bee. Seemingly turning around to look for what had just bitten him, Scrappy T veered sharply to the right just as Afleet Alex was about to come abreast.

That disaster was averted seems a miracle. Afleet Alex clipped heels with Scrappy T and stumbled badly. Both horses and their riders could have easily fallen at the top of the stretch with a dozen other horses and riders about to decend upon them. It could have been horrific.

But it wasn't. Instead, it was amazing. We saw an incredible equine athlete running at peak velocity suddenly tripped and nearly knocked to his knees. His nose just inches from the ground, he pulled himself back to his feet and proceeded to take off running again like nothing had happened. Cutting now to the inside of Scrappy T, Afleet Alex cruised past him with ease and moved on to a nearly five length victory.

Not to be overlooked is the ride by Afleet Alex’s jockey Jeremy Rose. Breaking from post position 12, Rose made a quick left just after the start and moved Afleet Alex all the way to the two path, saving a ton of ground around the first turn. On the backstretch, Rose maneuvered to the rail to save even more ground around the second turn. Waiting patiently behind Greeley’s Galaxy on the far turn, Rose was briefly in danger of being trapped behind slowing horses when he saw an opening to the outside. He hit the gas and Afleet Alex responded. Moving quickly outside the slowing leaders, Rose had his sights set on Scrappy T. As he approached the leader, Scrappy T suddenly veered sharply to the right, under the nose of his horse. As amazing a feat as it was for the horse to keep from falling, it may be more impressive that the jockey was able to stay aboard. Jockeys don’t actually sit on the back of racehorses, they balance on the stirrups. All it takes is a quick change of direction or momentum for a jockey to be tossed to the ground. Grabbing on to the horse’s mane, Rose was not only able to stay aloft but to help Afleet Alex to quickly regain his stride and momentum.

Rose has been aboard Afleet Alex for all of his starts but one. JR Velazquez picked up the ride for the Rebel in March and might have kept the horse if he didn't have other obligations on the day of the Arkansas Derby. Owners and trainers of top horses are always tempted to switch to a big name jockey. The connections of Afleet Alex should be very glad they stuck with Jeremy Rose. The horse could not have gotten a better ride.

After the Derby, I was very disappointed in Afleet Alex's performance. He was in a perfect position to win that race but came up short in a very slow time. Clearly, he did not fire in Kentucky like he did in Maryland. Looking back, a third place finish in the Derby when he wasn't at his best is not too bad. What is also clear now is that Afleet Alex is a very good horse. Track announcer Tom Durkin said it best as Afleet Alex crossed the finish line: “Afleet Alex…Awesome!” I couldn’t agree more.

Posted by Greg Brandow at May 22, 2005 09:00 AM