Posted on 5/18/2007 8:00:30 PM

Dramatic Preakness Finishes – A Look Back

By Dennis Sweeney

For most horseplayers and fans of horse racing, the running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course is always one of the most exciting race days of the year. As a native Marylander, I can attest that this is also the best season to be in Baltimore; the springtime weather is amongst the finest in the country, and the revelers enliven the city for the entire weekend, purely to celebrate the running of this venerable horse race.

The Pimlico track itself is legendary, and steeped in history. It is the second oldest thoroughbred racetrack in America, built in 1870, with continuous racing through to present day. The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, was first run in 1873, and, at 1 mile and 3/16ths, is the shortest of the three Triple Crown Races.

 

Although Pimlico has had its share of ups and downs over the last 10 to 15 years, luckily the Preakness race itself has continued to provide some of the most dramatic moments in sports, many of those moments occurring in recent years. So, without further ado, here is a recap (in increasing dramatic order) of some of the best of these thrilling finishes.

2004 – Kentucky Derby winner and Mid-Atlantic fan favorite Smarty Jones demolishes his Preakness rivals, winning by a whopping 11 ¼ lengths, the second-longest margin of victory in the race’s history. Smarty didn’t get long to celebrate, though, as he then went on to a heartbreaking loss by longshot Birdstone in the Belmont Stakes three weeks later.

1999 – While Charismatic’s victory in this year’s Preakness was certainly exciting, a race earlier on the undercard proved the most dramatic, when a crazed fan named Lee Ferrell somehow eluded security and ran onto the racetrack near the finish line of a sprint stakes race. Ferrell, obviously out of his mind, attempted to take a swing at an oncoming horse, Artax.

2000 – Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus looked like a lock rolling into the Preakness, but a rare day of nasty rainy weather caused the Pimlico course to come up sloppy, and fresh runner Red Bullet took command around the far turn and cruised home to an easy victory. In the winner’s circle after the race, winning owner Frank Stronach quipped to Maryland Jockey Club President Joe DeFrancis, “So Joe, now that I’ve won the Preakness, maybe you’ll let me buy Pimlico.” (Stronach, and his company Magna, eventually did buy a significant interest in Pimlico.)

2006 – Disbelief stuns the Preakness crowd when odds-on favorite Barbaro is pulled up with a life-threatening injury on the front stretch, seconds after breaking through the starting gate pre-race. The lightly-raced Bernardini wins the race impressively, a win many pundits initially consider a fluke, but Bernardini proves a true champion, going on to win the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Three-Year Old.

1997 – Silver Charm wins the Preakness in one of the most exciting finishes in the race’s history, just edging out two very talented horses, Free House and local MD runner Captain Bodgit, whom Silver Charm headed two weeks earlier to win the Kentucky Derby. Silver Charm’s victory was important at the time, sparking Triple Crown fever as he was the first horse to win both the Derby and Preakness since Sunday Silence had done it in 1989.

2005 – One of the most heart-stopping moments in the history of sports occurs in this running of the Preakness, when Afleet Alex (ridden by Jeremy Rose) is nearly knocked over by rival Scrappy T at the top of the Pimlico stretch. Miraculously, not only was Afleet Alex somehow able to nimbly regain balance, but he then drew off to a rousing and inspiring 4 ¾ length victory.

Keep checking the Locker Room all through the Triple Crown season, as we will cover the trainers, horses and jockeys in each race. You can get your early Preakness Stakes odds at Pimlico Racetrack place your bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook in the Future / props section, under Horse Futures: 2007 Preakness Stakes.