posted May 30, 2008 at 16:37 in Triple Crown Betting Trends

Online off track betting faithful remember when Jockey Jeremy Rose was on top of the world. In 2005 he was lucky enough to get the mount on a horse named Afleet Alex. Afleet Alex finished third in the Kentucky Derby and won both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Rose never got to ride Afleet Alex again as the horse suffered a career-ending injury and was retired to stud. But Rose does have a chance to ride a horse in the 2008 rendition of the Belmont Stakes. Rose is the regular rider for Icabad Crane.

Icabad Crane, trained by trainer Graham Motion, finished third most recently in Big Brown’s Preakness romp. Even though nobody would ever confuse Icabad Crane with Afleet Alex, Jeremy Rose probably doesn’t care.

Just being able to ride in these Grade I Triple Crown races is good enough for Rose.

Born in 1979, Jeremy Rose started his riding career at Delaware Park. That’s the same track that has produced such great riders as Mario Pino and Ramon Dominguez. Dominguez in particular is considered one of the top jockey’s in the world.

Rose won the Eclipse Aware for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2001 but it wasn’t until getting the mount on Alfeet Alex that Jeremy Rose became a household name.

Afleet Alex was the perfect combination of speed and class. To this day, I still wonder how Alex lost the 2005 Kentucky Derby to Giacomo. Rose’s steady hand was so perfect on Afleet Alex in the 2005 Preakness Stakes and the 2005 Belmont Stakes that I can’t really blame the horse’s loss in the Derby on Rose.

No matter. The real question is whether or not Rose could possibly have a live mount in this year’s Belmont Stakes aboard Icabad Crane. Icabad Crane, like everybody in the 2008 Belmont Stakes, will be chasing the greatest horse to attempt the Triple Crown since Spectacular Bid in 1979, Big Brown.

Big Brown is almost unbeatable and Rose will have to be on top of his game to get Icabad Crane even close in this race. This will be Rose’s third race on Icabad Crane and, hopefully, the first two races will have allowed Rose to get to know the horse better.

That’s how Rose developed aboard Afleet Alex. By the time Rose was aboard him in the 2005 Belmont, he had such a good handle on the horse’s tendencies, and there was such good communication between the two, that it would have taken Secretariat to beat Afleet Alex that day.

Icabad Crane may not be ready to run like Afleet Alex in 2005 but it won’t be because of Jeremy Rose. You can have faith that Rose will do whatever it takes to get his horse up against Big Brown.

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