An Immaculate Recovery in the Storied History of the Preakness

BALTIMORE - Twenty years later, Afleet Alex’ victory remains one of the most memorable in the storied history of the Preakness Stakes (G1).

But not for his margin of victory of 4 ¾ lengths.

Or his time of 1:55.04, which is nowhere near Secretariat’s stakes record of 1:53.

Nor who he beat on May 21, 2005 at Pimlico Race Course in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

In a matter of a frightful couple of seconds, Afleet Alex and jockey Jeremy Rose remarkably managed to avoid what could have been a horrific spill at the top of the stretch and continue a winning move.

The incident happened in full view of a huge crowd and national television audience that were watching to see if longshot Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Giacomo could add the Preakness to his resume and make a run at the Triple Crown.

Rose had guided Afleet Alex away from the rail coming off the turn and was aiming to go around the leader, Scrappy T, who was a few paths wide on the track. Without warning, Scrappy T reacted to being struck by Ramon Dominguez’ crop and moved out, directly in front of Afleet Alex, blocking his path. Afleet Alex clipped heels with Scrappy T and began to fall. However, Afleet Alex proved to be very nimble and righted himself just before his knees and nose hit the dirt. Meanwhile, Rose, a gifted high school wrestler, managed to stay in the saddle.

Through the years, Rose has told the story of the Afleet Alex Preakness many times. He said everything happened so quickly that he really didn’t have time to react.

“The weird thing is, I remember a lot of it pretty well,” he said. “When Ramon went left-handed before Scrappy T made his step to the right, I yelled, ‘Oh no!.’ I don't know why, because I rode with Ramon for years and years and years, and he never did that. Never had a problem. I don't know why that day I went, ‘Uh, oh.’ “When he hit him, he just came out, and I remember Alex starting to disappear. At this point, because I had a background in wrestling, I know how to fall and roll. I said, ‘Well, we're going to fall. We're going stay as close to Alex as we can, because he's going to block me.’ We had the whole field behind us. We were getting run over. It was just a matter how bad it was going to be.’”

Rose chuckled as he continued describing the most extraordinary ride of his 22-year career.

“Thankfully, he popped right up underneath me, almost like it was planned,” Rose said. “I didn't realize, how, until after I could see the pictures where his legs were angled and where they're stepping, how unbelievably athletic he really was.

“When you see the picture, you know his left front was back behind his stomach, his right front's out in front. His back legs are spread. It's ridiculous that he was able to stay up. But I remember everything: him going left-handed, him coming out. Alex disappearing from me, and then he pops up right back underneath me on his right lead, like it was planned. At that point, I guess, natural instincts just popped in. Time to win a race now, and that's what we did.”

Not only did Afleet’s Alex’ disaster-defying maneuver earn international attention in and out of the sport, it provided a huge boost for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a non-profit started by 4-year-old Alex Scott in 2000 – she died from cancer at the age of 8 in 2004 – to benefit pediatric cancer research. Afleet Alex’ owners had been making donations to the foundation but reached out to Scott’s parents, Liz and Jay, about promoting the Lemonade Stand program to give it more visibility. It became a huge crossover story when a Alex’s Lemonade Stand stands at Churchill Downs and Pimlico. It raised tens of thousands of dollars of the day of the Belmont.

“Afleet Alex was a critical part of continuing to take Alex's voice to a very different audience. And it's probably one of the single most magical things that happened in a year when we thought, how are we going to get anybody's attention now that Alex isn't here anymore?” Liz Scott says on the foundation website. “Afleet Alex did. It is amazing.”

According to the foundation, since 2005, ALSF has grown into the largest independent childhood cancer charity in the U.S. and has raised more than $300 million and funded over 1,500 medical research grants

Rose was the Eclipse Award winning apprentice jockey, rode from 2000 to 2023 and won 2,733 races, 28 of them graded stakes. He returned from his first retirement to ride for a couple more years and hasn’t completely ruled out resuming his career. He lives in State College, Pa, a few miles from where he grew up and works for United Parcel Service. Once a week, he gets up in the middle of the night and drives the two hours and 45 minutes to Delaware Park to work horses for trainers he has known for many years.

Leaving horse racing, a sport Rose found after high school, turned out to be a challenge and the reason why he has maintained a commuting connection.

“It’s one of those things that’s so hard to do,” Rose said. “The first time I retired, I thought it'll be easy. “It's just that you can't get that rush, you can't get that adrenaline. That's why I go down once a week, I get my adrenaline rush and I go back to the real world.

Shortly after he was acquired for $75,000 as a 2-year-old – the first purchase by Chuck Zacney’s Cash is King Stable - Afleet Alex served notice that he might be one of the best of his generation when he opened his career with four consecutive wins, including the Sanford (G2) and the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga. Following a victory in the Arkansas Derby (G2), he was the 9-2 second choice in the Derby. Afleet Alex made his run toward the front under Rose in the Derby and got to the lead in the stretch, but ended up third, a length behind Giacomo, the long shot closer.

In the Preakness, Afleet Alex started from Post 12 in the field of 14 and was the 3-1 favorite. Rose said the race was going as planned and was he was confident that Alex would win.

“It played out pretty much exactly how I had hoped it would during the actual race,” Rose said. “Not the problem at the top of the lane, obviously, but the trip itself was almost picture-perfect, in my opinion, from what we were talking about, what we were hoping for. We broke good. Everybody kind of went. We dropped straight to the rail. Pimilco was one of those places where I made a reputation riding the rail. So I said, ‘In the biggest race, why not ride the rail?’ And we did, got through every spot and at the top of lane. I thought, ‘We’ll, just tip out and go ahead and go on by everybody, and we'll get ready for the Belmont.’”

Suddenly, Scrappy T moved to his right and what looked like an easy victory became much more difficult and unforgettable.

In late July, Afleet Alex underwent surgery to repair a hairline condylar fracture of his left front leg. After his recovery he resumed training and was on course toward a run in the Breeders’ Cup. However, he was found to have complications from the injury and was retired from competition in December with earnings of $2,765,800. Eclipse Award voters made him the 3-year-old male champion.

Afleet Alex started his stud career at Gainesway in Kentucky in 2006 and stood at the farm until he was pensioned in January 2022. He sired six Grade 1 winners, including Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red, Travers winner Afleet Express and four champions in foreign countries. He is scheduled to remain at Gainesway for the rest of his life.

Story: Mike Kane
Photo: Maryland Jockey Club